Oh dear god
🌎🔥 Today I asked World Bank president @DavidMalpassWBG if he believed in the scientific consensus that the man made burning of fossil fuels is rapidly and dangerously warming the planet.
“I’m not a scientist,” he said.
Here’s a thread about the remarkable exchange.
The context: Under Malpass, who was appointed by Trump, the World Bank has come under intense criticism – from the UN, Biden admin, experts – for failing to act urgently enough on climate.
For example, the Bank is still funding fossil fuel projects.
Then this morning at our @nytclimate event, former VP @algore said of Malpass:
“We need to get a new head of the World Bank. This is ridiculous to have a climate denier as the head of the World Bank.”
I said as much and offered Malpass the opportunity to respond to Gore.
He filibustered for a few minutes, talking about the Bank’s climate work.
Then I asked him again to directly respond to Gore and answer my question.
“So very odd,” Malpass said. “I’ve never met him.”
I tried again.
“Let me just be as clear as I can,” I said. “Do you accept the scientific consensus that the man-made burning of fossil fuels is rapidly and dangerously warming the planet?”
By this point the mood was tense and the crowd was chirping…
He tried filibustering again.
“Will you answer the question?” I said.
“We have a mission of a World Bank that’s powerful, Malpass said.
“Will you answer the question?” I said.
By this point the crowd was jeering and some people were calling out “Answer the question!”
Finally Malpass said: “I don’t even know – I’m not a scientist and that is not a question so – Al Gore can put, I don’t know why it stays on the stage. What we need to do is move forward with impactful projects.”
Malpass went on to talk about the Bank’s climate work.
But if anyone was looking for the president of the World Bank to acknowledge the scientific consensus on climate change, keep looking.
Originally tweeted by David Gelles (@dgelles) on September 20, 2022.
WTF????? Is every last Trump appointee a cretin?