Greta Thunberg slams Joe Biden as a sub-par climate leader

Stockholm, Sweden - Greta Thunberg is bringing the heat as usual, but this time it's pointed at President Joe Bidenwho she says is far from being a leader on climate action.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg (r.) threw some shade at President Joe Bide (inset) in a new interview.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg (r.) threw some shade at President Joe Bide (inset) in a new interview.  © Collage: IMAGO/MediaPunch & ZUMA Press

In a new interview published by the Washington Post on Monday, the young Swedish climate activist ripped into Joe Biden for doing the opposite of taking action.

When asked if she gets her inspiration from "world leader" President Biden, the 18-year-old threw some shade at the commander-in-chief.

"If you call him a leader," she said.

"I mean, it’s strange that people think of Joe Biden as a leader for the climate when you see what his administration is doing. The US is actually expanding fossil fuel infrastructure."

She isn't wrong, either.

Thanks to pushback from his own party, the president has yet to pass the much-needed Build Back Better Act, but allowed the auction of 80 million acres of US federal property for fossil fuel exploration.

His climate envoy John Kerry did manage to gather support for an anti-deforestation pledge at the UN's climate conference in Glasgow, as well as plans to reduce methane emissions – a gas that is an even worse greenhouse gas than CO2.

However, those are still just plans – or "blah blah blah" in the words of Thunberg – because signees of the pledges don't have any penalty for not keeping their promises.

And the US is definitely not leading the charge against climate change when it comes to coal – the dirtiest fossil fuel of them all – since the Biden administration has yet to curb its use.

Change can be hard, but putting it off even longer is not an option. And the longer President Biden waits to truly act like a climate leader, the more expensive it will become.

“We need to fundamentally change our societies now," Thunberg said. "If we would have started 30 years ago, it would have been smoother. But now it’s a different situation.”

Cover photo: Collage: IMAGO/MediaPunch & ZUMA Press

More on Environment and Climate: