President Trump brushed aside warnings of a climate emergency from environmental activists at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, calling them “perennial prophets of doom.”
“We’re committed to conserving the majesty of God’s creation and the natural beauty of our world,” Trump said during a speech at the forum on Tuesday. “[The United States] will continue to show strong leadership in restoring, growing, and better managing our trees and our forests.”
The president went on to reject “predictions of the apocalypse” and called climate change alarmists “the heirs of yesterday’s foolish fortune tellers” who “always demand the same thing — absolute power to dominate, transform, and control every aspect of our lives.”
The Trump administration announced the same day that it will join a 1 trillion trees initiative proposed at the forum.
Earlier in the day, teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg scolded the world leaders for not doing more to combat the warming planet and dwindling worldwide natural resources.
“Unlike you, my generation will not give up without a fight,” she told the group. “The facts are clear, but they are still too uncomfortable for you to address. You just leave it because you think it’s too depressing, and people will give up. But people will not give up. You’re the ones who are giving up.”
Thunberg was named the 2019 “Person of the Year” by Time magazine for becoming “the biggest voice on the biggest issue facing the planet this year, coming from essentially nowhere to lead a worldwide movement.”
Trump has attacked Thunberg, 16, on social media in the past, telling her to “chill” last month. He has also joked at rallies that global warming is a “hoax” but has also said more needs to be done to combat climate change.
