SECRETARY OF STATE?: If confirmed, Sen. John Kerry wants to make addressing climate change a priority for the U.S. State Department.
Image: Flickr/Mark Mathosian
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) pledged yesterday to make climate change a top priority as secretary of State as he sailed through a mostly genial confirmation hearing before the committee he still chairs.
Testifying before his Senate Foreign Relations panel, Kerry sidestepped a question about his views on the controversial $7 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline project. But he jumped at a chance to swat down a Republican senator who declared carbon constraints a threat to the U.S. economy, and he defended the need to abate climate change as a jobs and security imperative.
"Climate change is not something to be feared in response to. It's to be feared if we don't," Kerry said, citing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data showing more than 3,500 U.S. communities shattered heat records last year and noting the billions spent mopping up disasters from wildfires in the West to Superstorm Sandy in the East. Meanwhile, he said, America has barely begun to tap the $6 trillion global clean energy market.
"I will be a passionate advocate about this, but not based on ideology. Based on facts, based on science. And I hope to sit with all of you to convince you that this $6 trillion market is worth billions of American jobs and we better go after it," he said.
Kerry's testimony came on the heels of a loud call by more than half the Senate demanding the Obama administration quickly approve the Keystone XL pipeline project that would ship about 700,000 barrels of crude daily from Canada's oil sands to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico. It also comes as President Obama himself promises renewed attention to climate change.
A longtime champion of climate action and an intense observer of the U.N. treaty process, Kerry said in no uncertain terms yesterday that he will make global warming a priority. While security issues from Iran to Syria dominated the three-hour hearing, Kerry also wove climate, food security and competition for scarce resources into a broad new narrative of diplomacy.
"More than ever, foreign policy is economic policy," Kerry said. "The world is competing for resources and global markets. Every day that goes by where America is uncertain about engaging in that arena ... is a day in which we weaken our nation itself."
Vague comments about Keystone
Addressing the threat of rising global temperatures would be a central part of his efforts, Kerry said, arguing that foreign policy is "not defined by drones and deployments alone" but also by humanitarian aid, fighting disease and promoting freedom. "It is defined by leadership on life-threatening issues like climate change," he said.
When Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a leading climate skeptic who opposes restrictions on carbon pollution, argued that the administration could harm the U.S. economy by enacting new regulations particularly given the skyrocketing emissions of China and India, Kerry was quick with a challenge.
"The opportunities of energy policy so vastly outweigh the issues that you're expressing concerns about," he said. "We've got to get into the energy race. Other countries are in it. This is a job creator. I can't emphasize that strongly enough."
When it came to Keystone, though, and the decision he likely must make about whether to approve the pipeline, Kerry offered only vague comments about the "ongoing statutory process" and legal consultations.
"It will not be long before that comes across my desk, and at that time I will make the appropriate judgment about it," he said.
Meanwhile, a seemingly technical aside between Kerry and Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) about executive agreements could have implications for the climate debate.
Risch tried to get Kerry to agree that congressional executive agreements -- which need only a simple majority of both chambers to pass rather than the two-thirds of the Senate required to approve a treaty -- are inappropriate attempts to avoid Congress. Kerry, though, noted that Republicans and Democrats alike have entered into such agreements and said there are times when it's necessary -- like when "ideological restraints" block action.
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7 Comments
Add Comment"Countries have agreed to develop a new international agreement by 2015 that will demand carbon cuts from all emitters, including the United States and China." You can add India and Russia to that.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd if any of these nations does not want to comply what are the countries going to do about it?
The question is how much to spend; where & when to spend it. With an agreed 0.1-1% of GDP net increase in costs due to AGW in the next 100 years, prostrating economy would be ridiculous. Using AGW as an excuse to dole out billions to force immature technologies will push back meaningful efforts to deal with climate change.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this0.1% - 1% of global GDP is a BARGAIN compared to the current and dangerously increasing damages that climate change will cause in the future. Here is a decent starting point:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics_of_global_warming
BTW, around 3% of US GDP is flushed down the toilet every year JUST dealing with the damages that coal pollution causes. Just focusing on the cost of action while ignoring the costs of inaction will GUARANTEE that you'll make a bad decision.
The US is making inroads in energy efficiency.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSee the currently running SA Daily Digest story:
"Does Increased Energy Efficiency Just Spark Us to Use More?"
- http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2013/01/24/does-increased-energy-efficiency-just-spark-us-to-use-more/?WT_mc_id=SA_DD_20130125
But watch out world.
China is just getting started in energy consumption.
Wait until the Chinese get cars.
And start to heat their homes in the winter.
Yes, that is right.
China regulates when the heat can be turned on in Northern China.
And Southern China gets no heat.
But with increasing prosperity and a cold front in November, China turned on the heat earl this year.
"Central heating services, which are mainly used in North China, are generally turned on when average daily temperatures fall below 5 C for five straight days.
Sun Yuchun, the mother of a 3-year-old boy in Beijing, was excited when she heard that the heating system will be turned on ahead of schedule. She said that she had to use home heaters last week to keep indoor temperatures at an appropriate level for her son."
- ChinaDaily USA 10/31/12 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-10/31/content_15858512.htm
But as prosperity spreads in China, people will soon not be satisfied with waiting until 5 straight days of 5 degree weather before the heat is turned on.
They are not going to be satisfied with indoor temps kept in the 50s - requiring them to wear coats indoors all winter.
Soon even southern China - which often is no warmer than Washington DC - will also want heat in the winter.
So watch out world.
Global warming is just getting warmed up.
The agreement should include mechanisms for monitoring and enforcement.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCongratulations to Senator Kerry for confirming Environmental climatology as a foreign policy instrument.There is immense possibility about using solar energy.Sun shines everywhere,rich or poor,developed or underdeveloped Country.Many solar devices r expensive,and can't be afforded by all.However,SOLAR COOKERS r affordable by all-rich or poor.The Summer season would soon start in Northern hemisphere--home to more than half of Global population.If we start using solar cookers at home,office canteen/cafetaria,restaurant and hotels-a large part of our energy crisis will be solved,environment will be protected,global warming will be less.Solar cooking is easily done,we cook all varieties of food--veg,or non-veg,Western,Oriental-in fact all cuisines.Food cooked in Solar cookers -is very healthy,saves time and energy.Every body also saves huge amount of money.Let us all -in the whole World-start solar cooking -this summer-to save the Mother Earth.Thanks-
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYeah, that will really "save the Mother Earth". You're dreaming dude, hyping these Pixie Power fantasies is a guaranteed way to ENSURE that the status quo - burn,baby,burn - will continue until there is no more coal, oil or NG left.
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