White House climate envoy John Kerry fielded a barrage of criticism and questions Thursday from House Republicans over his office’s transparency, his own carbon footprint and his upcoming trip to Beijing as China fails to meet its climate change promises.
A roving international climate czar for President Biden, Mr. Kerry was the subject of intense scrutiny by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee for advancing what GOP critics said is a radical climate agenda that falls on deaf ears with the world’s largest foreign polluters like China, India and Russia.
“We’re beyond just climate change, frankly. I don’t refer to it as that anymore. It’s only a massive crisis,” Mr. Kerry testified. “No country can solve the climate crisis alone. This requires multilateralism… because if China doesn’t reduce its emissions, we’re all in trouble. Russia, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico — countless countries all need to step up and be part of the solution.”
Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said China is not an “honest broker when it comes to addressing emission reduction” because of its developing nation status that allows lower standards under the Paris climate agreement. Mr. Kerry conceded some may “not see it as fair” and that he’s raised the issue with Chinese counterparts, but emphasized the U.S. must still push China to act.The roughly three-hour hearing featured several contentious moments between the panel’s Republican members and Mr. Kerry over his office’s longstanding refusal to disclose details about its operations and official travel, and his prior use of a private jet connected to his wife.
Mr. Mills said he hoped “it wasn’t too problematic for your operational team and your private jet to get here,” to which Mr. Kerry responded it would be “pretty stupid to talk about coming in a private jet from the State Department up here.”
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