President Biden’s newly appointed climate czar took a trip to Iceland in 2019 on a private plane and defended the move when confronted by a reporter.
Kerry told a reporter that flying in a private plane, which emits up to 40 times more carbon per person than flying commercial, to Iceland in order to receive an award for his work on climate change was “the only choice for somebody like me who is traveling the world to win this battle.”
“I’ve been involved in this fight for years. I negotiated with [Chinese] President Xi to bring President Xi to the table so we could get Paris,” Kerry added. “And, I believe, the time it takes me to get somewhere, I can’t sail across the ocean. I have to fly to meet with people and get things done.”
.@JohnKerry suggests trying to force Americans to emit less CO2 via the Paris Accord makes up for his use of private jets; “only choice for someone like me” [h/t @FoxNews https://t.co/V2pQDMlggU] pic.twitter.com/YrhWA0cqwT
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 3, 2021
Kerry, whose title is United States special presidential envoy for climate, has been criticized for many years over his frequent use of private planes, and it was recently reported that his family still owns a private jet despite his vocal push to lower carbon emissions across the globe.
The private jet use has prompted loud criticism on social media, including from former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, who slammed the former presidential candidate for flying in private jets but opposing a wind farm near his Massachusetts home.
.@AriFleischer accuses @JohnKerry of climate hypocrisy over his opposition to a wind power project near his summer home.
“Remember, he is the man who opposed a wind project on the Nantucket Sound because he didn’t want to see the view outside his window.” pic.twitter.com/RdCNv9Ck0y
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 27, 2021
During a press conference last week, Kerry promised that the climate measures undertaken by the Biden administration would be made with the goal of preventing any future president from undoing them.
“I think we can achieve things in the course of the next four years that will move the marketplace, the private sector, global finance, innovation, and research that in fact no one, no political person in the future, will be able to undo what the planet is going to be organizing over these next months and years,” Kerry told reporters. “This is the start of something new.
