White House climate envoy John Kerry, commenting on the war in Ukraine, expressed concern over the “massive emissions consequences” involved in the Russian invasion.
Kerry made the curious comments in an interview on BBC Arabic, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute’s MEMRI TV.
The former Democrat presidential candidate initially expressed concern for Ukraine and the effort by Russia to “change boundaries of international law by force.”
“I thought we lived in a world that had said no to that kind of activity,” he added. “And I hope diplomacy will win.”
Fair enough, but Kerry then shifted focus and worried that the war would distract the rest of the world from climate change while causing lots of excess emissions.
John Kerry: “I hope that President Putin will help us stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate.”pic.twitter.com/uAEkSeqvpj
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) February 24, 2022
In Midst of Russian Invasion, Kerry Frets About Climate Change
As the special presidential envoy for climate, Kerry seems to think he is incapable of expressing thoughts on foreign policy matters unless he somehow links it to climate change. No matter how absurd.
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And he didn’t disappoint.
In the interview, Kerry references “emissions” concerns and points out that the Russian invasion will cause other nations to lose focus on climate change.
“But massive emissions consequences to the war but equally importantly, you’re going to lose people’s focus, you’re going to lose big country attention because they will be diverted and I think it could have a damaging impact,” he said.
John Kerry now says that the war in Ukraine will distract from the world’s “most important security question”: climate change
You can’t make this up
— George Papadopoulos (@GeorgePapa19) February 24, 2022
From there, Kerry seemed to insinuate that rather than focusing on an invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin should be worried about his country ‘thawing’ out.
“I think hopefully President Putin would realize that in the northern part of his country, they used to live on 66% of the nation that was over frozen land,” he told the interviewer.
“Now it’s thawing, and his infrastructure is at risk. And the people of Russia are at risk,” he continued.
“And so I hope President Putin will help us to stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate,” Kerry added.
John Kerry to Putin tomorrow:
“You’ve really done it this time, mister. We are docking you 500 ESG points. AND if you don’t knock it off right now, we will hit your diversity & inclusion ratings too.” https://t.co/1W3lpYzs4s— Mr. Skilling (@mr_skilling) February 24, 2022
RELATED: John Kerry: America Under Trump is a ‘Dangerous Place’
Flashback: Biden Said Climate Change Biggest Threat to American Security
If only John Kerry were still Secretary of State. He could limit “massive emissions” in Ukraine and bring peace to the region simply by implementing ‘folk rock diplomacy.’
Like he did in Paris following a terrorist attack in 2015.
President-elect Joe Biden has named John Kerry as his “climate czar.”
In 2015, as secretary of state, he brought James Taylor to Paris after terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a kosher market. pic.twitter.com/hpm4A3GMew
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) November 23, 2020
While the comments may seem absurd, they’re no more absurd than the entire policy and platform of the Biden administration when it comes to their elevation of climate change as a threat on par with say, Russia or China.
Just over eight months ago, during a speech to Air Force personnel in the United Kingdom, President Biden warned that global warming is the “greatest threat” facing America and that it is “not a joke.”
“When I went over to the tank in the Pentagon when I was first was elected vice president with President Obama, the military sat us down and let us know what the greatest threats facing America were, the greatest physical threats,” he said.
“This is not a joke,” insisted Biden. “You know what the Joint Chiefs told us the greatest physical threat facing America was? Global warming.”
BIDEN: “This is not a joke. You what the Joint Chiefs told us the greatest threat facing America was? Global warming.” pic.twitter.com/apH7RtQWft
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 9, 2021
Biden said climate change was the biggest threat even as Russian hackers were shutting down a major American pipeline.
It was a joke then, and it’s a joke now.
In comments prior to the BBC appearance, Kerry equally lamented that the Russian invasion would hamper Ukraine’s ability to combat climate change in yet another interview earlier this week.
“So if, in fact, President Putin decides to go into Ukraine, it’s going to have monumental impact on the ability and willingness of people to do what’s necessary” to curb emissions.
