You probably know John Kerry already. Former Democratic senator from Massachusetts, Secretary of State under former President Obama and a former presidential candidate. But the incoming Biden administration gave him a new job – special presidential envoy for climate.
The role is a cabinet-level position. Kerry won’t need to be confirmed by the Senate, according to the Biden team.
In that role, Mr. Kerry will need to convince skeptical global leaders — burned by the Trump administration’s hostility toward climate science and its rejection of the 2015 Paris Agreement — that the United States not only is prepared to resume its leadership role but will also stay the course, regardless of the Biden administration’s future.
“The United States’ credibility on climate change has plummeted over the last four years,” said Nicholas Burns, a Harvard professor and a former longtime State Department official who served Republican and Democratic administrations.
He called Mr. Kerry’s appointment a “powerful signal” that will help the United States, the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China, start regaining global trust on the issue.
But some progressive activists and climate journalists have real concerns about what his appointment might also signal about the scope of the Biden administration’s ambitions on fighting climate change.
After I talked to Kerry about his climate policy strategy, I wrote about why I’m deeply skeptical about it. https://t.co/5l4wNqNNIv
— Emily Atkin (@emorwee) November 23, 20200
We talk to the Climate Leadership Council’s Greg Bertelsen about climate policy under the Biden administration.
Copyright 2021 WAMU 88.5. To see more, visit WAMU 88.5. 9(MDIwMjIxMDA0MDE0Mzk4NDIzNjA0OGQ5Yg001))