Greta Thunberg brings climate protests to White House

Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg brought her protest movement to Washington on Friday, joining several hundred people for a demonstration outside the White House.

The protest garnered bigger numbers than recent marches Thunberg has been a part of in New York, but was still smaller than equivalent events across Europe.

“The planet’s on fire, Trump is a liar,” protesters at the White House chanted.

Read more: Climate activist Greta Thunberg completes trans-Atlantic journey

“It’s a lot of people, a lot more than I think anyone had expected,” the 16-year-old Thunberg said. “This is is very overwhelming.”

Thunberg has been spearheading a series of demonstrations in the US after arriving by zero-carbon yacht at the end of August.

Teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg joins student environmental advocates during a strike to demand action be taken on climate change outside the White House.

She will return to New York later this month for the UN climate summit. US President Donald Trump is a well-known climate skeptic who has been actively rolling back environmental regulations while mocking green technologies such as wind turbines.

Read more: How right-wing nationalism fuels climate denial

The 16-year-old Swedish activist has inspired a global youth climate movement by organizing weekly school strikes in her home country to draw attention to what she calls “a war on nature.”

She has sparked teenagers and students around the world to gather every Friday under the rallying cry “Fridays for Future,” to call on adults to act now to save the planet.

mmc/aw (AP, dpa)

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