Hillary Clinton took delight in TIME’s decision to name teen climate change activist Greta Thunberg as its “Person of the Year,” adding she could not think of a better recipient and referring to the activist as a “gutsy” woman – a self-regarding homage to Clinton’s own children’s book.
The magazine announced the 16-year-old activist as its 2019 Person of the Year on Wednesday.
TIME’s editor-in-chief, Edward Felsenthal, called Thunberg the “biggest voice on the biggest issue facing the planet” and added she represents a “broader generational shift in the culture that we’re seeing … where the students marched against gun violence where young people are demanding change urgently”:
Clinton applauded the announcement, using the hashtag “#gutsywomen” as part of her praise.
“I couldn’t think of a better Person of the Year than @GretaThunberg. I am grateful for all she’s done to raise awareness of the climate crisis and her willingness to tell hard, motivating truths,” Clinton wrote.
“As she said today: ‘Change is coming, whether you like it or not.’ #gutsywomen,” she added:
Thunberg, who made headlines after sailing to the United States in order to attend the United Nations climate summit, has inspired the Fridays for Future movement, resulting in various climate strikes peppered across the globe.
Thunberg sharply addressed world leaders during her appearance before the United Nations General Assembly in September, accusing them of stealing her “dreams” and “childhood.”
“This is all wrong,” she said “I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean, yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!”
“You have stolen my dreams, my childhood, with your empty words and yet I’m one of the lucky ones,” she continued.
“People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!” she continued:
Numerous Democrat presidential candidates have offered plans to address what they describe as the climate change “crisis.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has dubbed his campaign “the climate campaign” and has touted his $16 trillion Green New Deal proposal. Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has upped her game, calling for a Blue New Deal to further protect the world’s oceans, which she says are in “crisis.”
Michael Bloomberg, a Democrat candidate who considers himself a “global leader” on climate change, owns a “fleet of private jets and helicopters stationed in New Jersey,” as Breitbart News reported.