The Financial Times (FT) reported on the 21st (local time) that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said at a World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting dinner that coal should be used as an energy source and was met with boos.

Serving as a speaker at the dinner held in Davos, Switzerland, on the 20th (local time), Secretary Lutnick argued that the world should focus on using coal as an energy source instead of renewables. FT reported that he also made remarks dismissive of Europe.

Unlike the United States under President Donald Trump’s second administration, which has withdrawn from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and is increasing the use of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, the European Union (EU) is pursuing a phased exit from fossil fuel use to achieve the first carbon-free continent as part of its response to the climate crisis.

Following these remarks by Secretary Lutnick, widespread protests and boos reportedly erupted in the dining hall. Some, including European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde, stormed out during Lutnick’s speech. Larry Fink, the BlackRock chairman who hosted the dinner as WEF’s interim co-chair, was said to have worked up a sweat trying to calm the audience.

The U.S. Department of Commerce claimed that the only person who booed Secretary Lutnick at the dinner was former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, a Democrat. In response, Gore told the FT, “I sat and listened to the speech to the end. I did not interrupt him in any way,” and added, “When the speech ended, I reacted as I felt, and several others did the same.” Gore is a politician and environmental activist who, together with the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for alerting the world to the dangers of the climate crisis and elevating climate action into a political and social agenda for the international community.

Secretary Lutnick’s speech repeated the creed of U.S. President Donald Trump. Earlier, in a Financial Times op-ed, Lutnick wrote, “I am not going to Davos to support the status quo,” adding, “I will confront it head-on.” He asserted, “The reason we came to Davos is clear,” and, “With President Trump, capitalism has a new proprietor.” President Trump has rolled back various climate-crisis-related environmental regulations that hinder domestic oil industry development and recently announced withdrawals from bodies such as the UNFCCC and the IPCC.