International Monetary Fund head Kristalina Georgieva echoed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter feed on Monday by framing the coronavirus pandemic is a “great opportunity” to push green initiatives.
The Bulgarian economist told the Atlantic Council via videoconference that “Mother Nature” would continue warning the world about embracing green policies whether citizens liked it or not.
“A crisis [is] never to be missed as an opportunity to do better,” Ms. Georgieva said, the Washington Examiner reported.
“Look, Mother Nature is not going to let us forget that climate change is a major risk to the well-being of people and the well-being of economies,” she said. “Right now, we are concentrated on the immediate emergency, and rightly so, but as we deal with COVID-19 and we restart economies, it is a great opportunity to see what are the policies that we can put in place and even accelerate so we can [see] climate-friendly growth in the future. … So what are the areas we can pursue? Well, oil prices are very low — very good moment to phase out harmful subsidies, taking advantage of these low oil prices.”
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez — a stalwart advocate for the Green New Deal — came under fire on April 20 for cheering oil industry chaos caused by the contagion.
“You absolutely love to see it,” she said in a now-deleted tweet. “This along with record low-interest rates means it’s the right time for a worker-led, mass investment in green infrastructure to save our planet.”
A follow-up tweet in line with Ms. Georgieva’s current rhetoric followed.
“Now is the time to create millions of good jobs building out the infrastructure and clean energy necessary to save our planet for future generations,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “For our economy, our planet, and our future, we need a #GreenNewDeal.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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