Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin says teen climate activist 'ill-informed'

LOUISVILLE — Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin touted the reliability of fossil fuels and called teen climate activist Greta Thunberg “remarkably ill-informed” during a conference on energy.

Bevin was asked about the 16-year-old Swedish activist on Tuesday after he gave a keynote address at the annual meeting of the Southern States Energy Board in Louisville. Bevin said Thunberg is “an intelligent woman, young woman, she’s very emotional, she’s very passionate and she’s remarkably ill-informed.”

Gov. Matt Bevin Doubts Climate Science, Calls Greta Thunberg ‘Ill-Informed’ https://t.co/elp0GwoiYO via @WFPLNews @RyanVanVelzer

— Ryland Barton (@RylandKY) September 24, 2019

The day before, the teen gave an impassioned speech at the United Nations urging action on climate change. Thunberg told world leaders that “we are in the beginning of a mass extinction and yet all you can talk about is money. You are failing us.”

President Donald Trump appeared to mock her speech on social media. Trump posted a video of Thunberg’s speech along with a tongue-in-cheek comment: “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”

Bevin said the United States shouldn’t rush into replacing fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas with renewable energy. Kentucky is one of the largest coal-producing states in the nation.

Bevin said activists like Thunberg lack historical and global perspective and have grown up in a world where electricity is affordable and on-demand.

He said he is concerned that renewables may not be able to keep pace if electricity demand increases as utilities move away from burning fossil fuels.

“Renewables cannot come close to meeting demand as it increases around the world,” Bevin said.