On November 17th, President-elect Joe Biden announced that former Secretary of State John Kerry will join his administration as Climate Change Envoy, or “climate czar.” Former Secretary Kerry has advocated for government action to address climate change – at both the state and federal level – for decades. Nor is Kerry a stranger to tackling diplomatic tasks relating to climate change; after all, it was his job to lock down commitments to reverse the trend towards a runaway climate reaction from nearly two hundred countries at the Paris Climate Change Conference in 2015.
The United States has its work cut out vis a vis re-gaining international trust in its climate commitments. The Trump Administration has done much to erode this trust through actions it has taken that even go beyond its decision to unilaterally withdraw from the agreement in August 2017. A slew of deregulation initiatives and executive orders have scaled back many climate-friendly Obama-era precedents and regulations.
Former Secretary Kerry’s appointment has been hailed universally as a positive step in the right direction and a strong indicator of intent. The fact that the climate czar will have a seat at the National Security Council gives the issue of climate change the largest degree of deference it has ever enjoyed in the United States government. However, Kerry’s diplomatic overtures can only do so much. It should be noted that the effect that the new climate czar position may have are stringent on the incoming administration’s ability to introduce climate-friendly domestic policies.
Ron,
Yes, John Kerry’s appointment is very encouraging–and I quite agree that he has his work cut out for him. Rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement (PCA) is the easy part, particularly since it is not a formal treaty and does not therefore require Senate ratification. But, as you indicated, the Trump administration has done its level best to roll back virtually all climate change regulations enacted during the Obama years. And beyond that, there is the much larger and more difficult problem of “turning the aircraft carrier”–meaning, changing people’s attitudes and behaviors regarding the use of fossil fuels. There is little hope that we can meet our commitments under the PCA unless we move much more quickly towards renewable energy.
–Professor Wallerstein