John Kerry called on Americans to start treating climate change as though the country is fighting a war.
Kerry, the 75-year-old former secretary of state, launched a group to combat climate change called World War Zero alongside several famous leaders including former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Leonardo DiCaprio, and former President Bill Clinton.
During an interview on Meet the Press, Kerry said more attention needs to be placed on the issue of climate change and pushed back on host Chuck Todd when he claimed that President Trump is the only roadblock stopping action on climate change.
“It’s not just the president, Chuck. There are great efforts out there. Many environmental groups, young people particularly. But no country is getting the job done. I mean, the simple reality is that we are way behind, way behind the eight ball,” said Kerry. “Things are getting worse, not better.”
He added, “We have unlikely allies coming together here. There’s no group that has people as diverse as ours in terms of nationality, age, gender, ideology, background, life experience, and all of these people have come together saying, ‘We’ve got to treat this like a war.’”
Kerry said the battle against climate change requires leadership, decision making, and organization similar to wars. He claimed World War Zero is going to talk to billions of people to raise awareness and make sure they put climate change “at the top of the list.”
Kerry’s group will not endorse any single climate plan, such as Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, but rather he hopes to focus on public awareness as the means to achieve the change he is looking for.
Trump has criticized the climate change movement, especially in deals where he feels the United States is being asked to cripple its economy while other countries, such as China and India, continue to pollute. He announced his plan to leave the Paris Climate accords shortly after becoming president.
