John Kerry doesn’t get it.
Joe Biden’s climate czar held court yesterday at the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai. True to form, he slammed fossil fuels.
The United States must end “crazy” oil and gas subsidies to achieve its climate goals, he told Politico.
Subsidies to the electric vehicle industry to produce cars few people want are just fine, apparently.
But Kerry’s agenda, which matches that of other climate change social justice warriors, is all about looking good on paper and not so much about the ordinary people who must do the heavy lifting.
Kerry is wealthy. He isn’t driving a beater because it’s the only thing he can afford. He isn’t a single parent of small children who must be fed. Higher gas prices will inevitably affect shipping and freight costs – and those get passed on to the struggling consumers who are able to buy less and less.
He doesn’t have a job dependent on tourism, which would take a hit if people cut back on travel to reduce their carbon footprint. This doesn’t apply to Kerry, of course. He jets around the globe, giving himself a dispensation because he’s on a climate-saving mission.
Kerry doesn’t have to choose between heating his home or eating. Those who blithely advise fossil-fuel heat users to turn to solar panels forget that switching to renewables cost money, even if there are some subsidies available. And when you’re pinching pennies, splashing out on solar panels isn’t in the budget.
“We all have to be part of hitting this goal of keeping the earth’s temperature limit to 1.5 degrees,” Kerry said.
But “we” are not all in the same place. Some of “we” can’t spring for a week on the Cape, never mind days in Dubai. And for a summit dedicated to lowering carbon footprints, the irony of some 84,000 people reportedly attending the COP28 shindig is rich. Did they take e-scooters there?
Then again, since Kerry continually dodges transparency by refusing to divulge his staff payroll, half the folks in Dubai could be working for him and sharing a plane over.
He touched on the United Arab Emirates, saying the UAE “must “cut (oil and gas production), and everybody needs to be reducing supply and demand.”
The folks at home slammed by higher prices? Too bad.
Climate crusaders like Kerry are big on numbers and graphs and carbon-free goals. But how ordinary people are supposed to transition to a low-emission life without the safety net of being wealth is lost in the mix.
Does any climate change policy include funding for people to pay higher food prices because of higher gas prices? Any EV giveaways?
If he wishes, Kerry can nosh on food cart bao and biryani at the summit – a world away from families serving struggle meals. Yet they are the ones being asked – told, really – to sacrifice.
“This COP needs to be committed to phasing out all unabated fossil fuel,” Kerry said. “That means we cannot allow the emissions to be going up for sure.”
Except, of course, for diplomats racking up frequent-flyer miles.
