Greta Thunberg’s reply to a Republican’s argument against climate action goes viral

Greta Thunberg testifies before the Congress. (File)

Three days after teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg told members of Congress to heed scientists’ warnings over global warming during a testimony, one of the 17-year-old’s replies to Representative Garret Graves from Louisiana seems to have caught the attention of people and the video has gone viral.

During the hearing, Representative Garret Graves from Louisiana tried to divert attention from the US’s greenhouse gas emissions towards other countries with higher emissions.

Presenting a hypothetical scenario to the young Swedish activist, Graves asked, “If you were sailing across the ocean and you’re picking up trash along the way, and for every one piece of trash that you pick up there is a boat right next to you dumping out five pieces. How would that make you feel?”

Replying to Garret Graves, the unfazed 17-year-old environmentalist said all the nations were doing damage and it doesn’t cancel itself out. “Well, first of all, if you use that logic, then I am also dumping a lot of trash in the ocean. And then I would stop dumping my trash in the ocean and tell the other boat to stop dumping their trash in the ocean as well,” Thunberg replied.

And here’s Greta Thunberg subtly refuting @RepGarretGraves‘s self-defeating logic that the US doesn’t need to do more to address the climate crisis because other countries are lagging behind pic.twitter.com/4WH9iirSXN

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 18, 2019

Her reply to Graves quickly drew attention online and people lauded her for her poise and how with her steadfast rationale she stopped her critics and those who take climate change lightly and points fingers at others.

Thunberg later added perspective from her experiences in her home country of Sweden, where she said she had heard similar arguments and blame game toward the United States. “There it is the same argument: ‘Why should we do anything? Just look at the US…So, just so you know, that is being used against you as well.”