On Wednesday, young climate leaders protesting at an event sponsored by Americans for Prosperity — an oil industry front group and major element of the climate denial machine — were repeatedly atacked as “Nazis” and “crazed Hitler Youth”.

Rather than apologize for his vile comments, Lord Monckton has doubled down, repeating his accusation and refusing to shake the hand of a Jewish SustainUS delegate, telling him “I will not shake the hand of Hitler youth.”

The next day, AFP tried to spin their way out of the controversy, responding “We don’t approve of Hitler youth remark See tape of inappropriate gesture from protester edited out by @sustainUSagents http://bit.ly/89fdPO”.

While we thank AFP for expressing mild disagreement with Lord Monckton’s comments (i.e. meeting the bare minimum threshold for human decency) this response is still unacceptable and raises as many questions as it answers:

• As they state, in the video you can see one of the protesters briefly raise her middle finger to the camera. Is this gesture rude? Sure. But does AFP really mean to suggest that making a rude gesture is equivalent to disparaging an entire generation of climate activists as Hitler Youth?
• In that same video, Tim Phillips introduces Lord Monckton as “one of the best minds” on their side after the Hitler Youth comments were made! Considering his continued Nazi rhetoric, does AFP still consider Monckton as a leading mind in this debate?
• Will AFP apologize to the youth delegates who were verbally attacked by Lord Monckton?
• Can AFP explain why they gave a bigot like Lord Monckton a platform to speak in the first place?

Tell the oil industry CEO’s backing this event that these comments are offensive and unacceptable.

Ask AFP who they support: hateful British lords or engaged young Americans looking for a clean energy future.