Climate activist Greta Thunberg. Image: European Parliament/Flickr

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has been accused of many things: causing “needless anxiety”; promoting “doomsday waffle talk”, and ruining air travel with her “flight shaming”. 

But now, she’s been accused of something entirely different: destroying a sacked Top Gear presenter’s beloved car shows. 

In an interview with The Sun, Clarkson complained the Swedish teen had taught children that “cars are evil”.

“She’s an idiot,” he added. 

It’s not clear whether school students were deeply interested in vintage car shows before Thunburg rose to climate fame. 

He had previously criticised her in an op-ed in The Sun, clinging to her age as a  criticism of her actions. “So be a good girl, shut up and let them get on with it. And no. You cannot stay out past 10. And you cannot go out in a skirt that short,” he wrote, because there’s nothing more appropriate than a 59-year-old man ranting about an adolescent’s rhetorical outfit. Clarkson’s comments come just weeks after he finally recognised the climate crisis during a trip to Asia, catching up on a concept several decades old.  

Blaming the youth for failed enterprises is nothing new: Millennials have been blamed for killing napkins, fabric softener and golf. And let’s not forget when marketers lashed out at the generation for killing canned tuna, thanks to their inability to purchase a can opener.