John Kerry: False Prophet of the Climate Apocalypse
By Frank Lasee
December 30, 2020
Former Secretary of State John Kerry has a long and notable track record of being a global warming alarmist and now a climate change catastrophist. He authored many failed bills in the Senate that tried to impose carbon taxes on primary energy sources like oil, natural gas and coal, which provide 80 percent of the world’s energy.
All the while, Mr. Kerry flies around the world in his wife’s private jet living the lifestyle he publicly says is destroying the planet. This is the man President-elect Joe Biden has selected to be his climate czar and shape Biden’s climate policy.
Kerry himself laid out an ambitious agenda saying he will address, “the climate crisis as the urgent national security threat that it is.” Analyzing what Mr. Kerry has said and written shows he shouldn’t be setting climate policy. He has been consistently wrong about the apocalyptic consequences of climate change and wants to pass economically devastating policies that would hurt middle America.
In a 2009 editorial, Mr. Kerry wrote:
“Facts, as John Adams said, are stubborn things. Here are a few you need to know: Atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels have risen 38% in the industrial era, from 280 to 385 parts per million (ppm). Scientists have warned that anything above 450 ppm — a warming of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6°F) — will result in an unacceptable risk of catastrophic climate change.”
Mr. Kerry continues, “The truth, is that the threat we face is not an abstract concern for the future. Scientists project that the Arctic will be ice-free in the summer of 2013. Not in 2050, but four years from now.”
Those unnamed scientists he quotes were spectacularly wrong, as their predictions of melting glaciers haven’t happened. This year’s summer Arctic minimum sea ice extent was nearly 1.5 million square miles. And, the Antarctic sea ice extent this September was more than 7 million square miles, the 13th greatest extent recorded by satellite. The growth in Antarctic sea ice is balancing the decline in Arctic sea ice.
His other point also appears to be wrong and alarmist. Our best measurement of atmospheric CO2 is 410 parts per million (ppm) and increasing about 1.8 ppm per year. So, it will take 22 years before we reach the 450 ppm that will “result in unacceptable risk of catastrophic climate change.” If you believe Mr. Kerry, we should be battening down our hatches and preparing for doomsday.
There is no way to stop the rising CO2 in the atmosphere. Even the 7 percent reduction in output caused by the COVID-19 recession isn’t making a dent in the 1.8 ppm growth in CO2. A recent UN report claims we must reduce the world’s emissions by 7.6 percent annually for a decade to keep the increase to 2.7°F. Those types of reductions aren’t happening.
In fact, worldwide emissions climb every year. While the U.S. is one of the few countries cutting emissions, the biggest emitters are growing theirs. This increase in emissions is allowed under the Paris Agreement that Mr. Kerry negotiated, as China, India, and Russia, three of the top four emitters, aren’t held accountable for runaway emissions.
Only 7 of 184 countries are keeping the promises they made in the Paris Agreement. Right now, China is building hundreds of coal plants and India is building a large number as well. China consumes 4.6 billion tons of coal each year and emits almost 30 percent of the world’s CO2, a number that is only increasing.
The U.S. is reducing emissions because of the miracle of fracking, which has made natural gas cheap and abundant. In fact, we reached energy independence last year and are even exporting natural gas. Biden plans to end fracking and increase regulations, actions that will cause Americans to pay higher energy costs.
Mr. Kerry and his environmentalist friends oppose natural gas and mining. Instead, they want to invest trillions in wind turbines, solar panels and electric cars for the wealthy while trying to invent nonexistent technology.
These climate catastrophists seem to believe that wishing will replace the fossil fuels that provide 80 percent of the world’s energy with intermittent and unreliable wind and solar power sources. They claim this can be done in 20 years without disrupting our way of life. As if riding bikes instead of driving cars and not eating meat is normal.
If you take Mr. Kerry seriously, instead of seeing him as a politician intent on gaining power, we should prepare for the end. Catastrophists like him have been selling us a false narrative. Their predictions are always wrong, yet Democrats continue giving power to those like Mr. Kerry who want to pass destructive policies in pursuit of a green utopia.
Frank Lasee is a former Wisconsin state senator and former member of Governor Scott Walker’s administration. The district he represented had two nuclear power plants, a biomass plant and numerous wind towers. He has experience dealing with energy, the environment and the climate.