Biden Announces John Kerry as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

Pictured above: former Secretary of State John Kerry. Photo courtesy of Flickr.

By Helen Gloege ’23

Staff Writer 

President-elect Joe Biden announced on Nov. 23 that former Secretary of State John Kerry will serve as the special presidential envoy for climate, a new position created by Biden’s team. Kerry will serve as a cabinet-level appointee in the administration and will sit on the National Security Council as its first-ever official dedicated to climate change. 

The term “presidential” in his title means that Kerry is likely to report directly to Biden. The term “envoy” means that Kerry is a senior diplomat and is thus responsible for representing the U.S. climate agenda in diplomatic circles, including in meetings with foreign leaders. Biden’s team has also promised to instate a domestic equivalent to Kerry, an appointment that has yet to be announced.

The appointment of Kerry to this office indicates a shift in policy and approach to climate from the last four years under the Trump administration. The position shows that Biden’s approach to climate change is a foreign policy issue because Kerry will sit on the NSC and work with international officials. Kerry will also be sent as a representative of the U.S. on climate-related issues — an unusual feature of this appointment in that most envoys normally require confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

During the Obama administration, Carol Browner, an Environmental Protection Agency administrator, served as a domestic climate policy coordinator. Browner was known for having a vast wealth of knowledge on climate change, but her pushes for action were frequently countered by Larry Summers, Obama’s chief economic advisor. 

Kerry succeeded Hillary Clinton as secretary of state in 2013 and played a significant role in the development of the Paris climate accord. In 2019, Kerry co-founded a bipartisan initiative of world leaders and celebrities to combat the climate crisis dubbed World War Zero. During this past Democratic primary, he was the co-chair of the Biden-Sanders unity task force that was focused on producing recommendations on climate.

After its announcement, Kerry’s appointment received much praise. Michael Mann, the director of the Earth Science Center at Penn State, said he “cannot think of one person better qualified” for the job than Kerry. The Sierra Club’s acting Deputy Director for Policy and Advocacy Dalal Aboulhosn pointed to Kerry’s longtime advocacy on climate and decades of political experience as key positive aspects of the nomination. Former Senator Tim Wirth of Colorado, who was a climate negotiator under secretary of state for global affairs in President Bill Clinton’s administration, noted that Kerry “understands the depth of the climate issue and the need for a huge global economic transition.” Co-founder and Executive Director of the Sunrise Movement Varshini Prakash, who co-chaired Biden’s climate task force, also praised Kerry’s appointment, saying he is “committed to engaging and listening to young voices — even when we might not always agree — ensuring we have a seat at the table.” Sunrise also responded to the position, calling for a domestic counterpart to Kerry, which the Biden team responded to by saying there would be a domestic counterpart announced in the near future.

Despite many encouraging responses, not all reactions have been positive. Wenonah Hauter, the executive director of Food & Water Action, said that “Kerry has been a long-time apologist for fossil fuel fracking, and a reliable promoter of false climate solutions.” The environmental group Food & Water Action has doubted whether Biden’s vision will be fast or effective enough. Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton is also critical of the appointment, saying, “John Kerry [is] thrilled at [the] prospect of returning to his dream job of living in Central European luxury hotels while negotiating deals that are bad for America.”

The position of special presidential envoy for climate could be the beginning of many climate-related positions in the Cabinet and government. For now, the creation of this post shows that tackling the climate crisis is a priority for the new executive branch. Within the upcoming weeks, it is likely we will know Kerry’s promised domestic counterpart and more details about the Biden administration’s plans to confront the climate crisis.

The Future of Climate Policy: Can Biden Do It?

Pictured above: President-elect Joseph Biden Jr. Image courtesy of Flickr.

By Abby Wester ’22

Staff Writer

After many grueling days spent counting absentee ballots, Joe Biden was announced president-elect of the United States on Saturday, Nov. 7. Biden’s win is generally seen by climate policy experts as a step in the right direction, but the efficacy and strength of his environmental policies have still yet to be determined. 

In the Democratic primary, Biden was seen as one of the least progressive candidates when it came to climate. But when Biden became the candidate for the Democratic Party, he ran on a platform that prioritized combating climate change in the hopes of rallying his base. He has since proposed the most ambitious climate plan to ever be released by a major U.S. presidential candidate. 

The political alignment of the Senate might challenge Biden’s ability to implement his plan. The Senate has been majority Republican since 2015. As of today, the political divide of the Senate is still in question, with Republicans holding 50 seats, Democrats holding 46 and independents holding two. Two more Senate seats are still up in the air in Georgia, where a runoff election will occur in January. The results of that election will either create a Republican majority or a tie between the parties. 

A majority Republican Senate is traditionally seen as an enemy to climate policy and could block the legislation promised by Biden during his campaign. If any votes the Senate takes are divided 50 against 50, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will vote to break the tie.

If Biden is able to follow through on  his climate promises, there may still be pressure and resistance from the political left. Biden’s moderate approach to climate in the primaries, along with his allegiance to fracking, have not left the minds of climate activists. Groups such as the Sunrise Movement have already spoken about their high expectations of Biden and are ready to be critical of his climate policies.

No matter the political makeup of the Senate or the hastiness of climate activists, Biden will have his work cut out for him when it comes to climate policy. President Donald Trump has spent the last four years disregarding climate science, reversing environmental regulations and, most recently, removing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement. Biden’s response to climate change will likely displease many Americans given the divided politics of the nation. Climate change, however, will not wait for political disagreements as it continues to ravage our world.

On the Ballot: Climate Change

Graphic by Anjali Rao-Herel ‘22

By Abby Wester ’22

Staff Writer

In the 2020 election, the issue of climate change often divides along party lines. Democrats tend to support policies that limit greenhouse gas emissions while Republicans generally take a more hands-off approach. Environmental policies also differ within the major political parties, specifically within the Democratic Party, as there are various moderate and left-leaning views. Joe Biden’s and Donald Trump’s responses to climate change have been split along party lines. 

Biden’s climate plan is regarded as one of the most progressive ever listed on the U.S. ticket. His proposal promises to make a $1.7 trillion federal investment in environmental justice and clean energy over the next 10 years. Biden has been seen as an opponent of the Green New Deal, the congressional resolution put forth by progressive members of the Democratic Party to fight climate change.  “I don’t support the Green New Deal,” Biden said during the first presidential debate. However, the plan that Biden’s campaign has released is similarly modeled after the Green New Deal in that it connects protection of the environment to the revitalization of the economy.

Biden’s plan has five key aspects. He promises the United States will use 100 percent green energy and have net-zero emissions by no later than 2050. He will invest in the nation’s infrastructure, which may improve climate resilience. The Biden campaign also pledges to rally the rest of the world to join in the United States’ efforts to combat climate change by urging other nations to abstain from actions that harm the environment, such as arctic drilling. By serving as a leader in the fight against climate change, Biden hopes to lead the world in creating green technologies and environmentally safe industry standards. Biden advocates for environmental justice and promises to stand up to the large polluters who, as the plan highlights, disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities. According to his plan, Biden will secure benefits for and invest in workers in the coal and power plant industries as the economy shifts toward clean energy.

Many conservatives have rallied against the progressive Green New Deal since it was proposed in Congress by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey in February 2019. Trump has accused Biden of supporting the Green New Deal, and Biden in turn denounced the congressional resolution. While Biden says he endorses the framework of the Green New Deal seen in his own climate plan, their formats are fundamentally different.

 The Green New Deal is a congressional resolution. It’s a broad framework that outlines the goals of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while providing improved infrastructure and secure jobs for all Americans. Biden’s climate plan offers specific details about how the climate and economic goals would be achieved.

On the other hand, Trump has yet to release a cohesive plan of what he would do if granted a second term in office, but rather has provided a list of individual steps that he has already taken to benefit the environment as well as the economy. For example, he created a Superfund task force to streamline the cleanup of hazardous waste sites, signed an executive order to protect and restore one trillion trees by 2030 and invested in clean water infrastructure. When it comes to burning fossil fuels, Trump has rescinded the Obama administration’s clean power plan — along with a number of other environmental regulations that would limit greenhouse gas emissions — and worked to improve infrastructure and resources needed to increase gas and oil production in the U.S.

From immense detail to a more laissez-faire approach, there are several partisan ways to address environmental issues, such as climate change. Both candidates have taken steps to address the environment in a way that will please their core bases.

Climate Change in the Presidential Debates: A Hopeful Outlook

By Abby Wester ’22

Staff Writer

Climate change is a growing crisis affecting the environment in a multitude of ways. In the past few months alone, the United States has seen historically devastating fires on the West Coast and a record-breaking hurricane season on the East Coast. Despite how this global crisis is expected to disturb economies, infrastructure and human health, it is still a heavily contested subject in American politics. United States presidential debates have a history of glossing over, or completely ignoring, the issue of climate change. The heated and insult-ridden presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on Sept. 29 directly addressed the subject for the first time in 12 years.

The last question about climate change in a presidential debate was posed in 2008. This year, moderator Chris Wallace dedicated 10 minutes of discussion to the topic. According to a Tweet made by meteorologist and journalist Eric Holthaus, those 10 minutes “[double] the total amount of time [spent talking about climate change] in all 2000 minutes of presidential debates since 1988.”

In an interview with NBC News, Nathan Hultman, director of the Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland, stated that the presence of questions about climate change in the debate “[reflect] the heightened political and grassroots interest in the subject.” Groups such as the Sunrise Movement have been advocating for discussion about climate change since June 2019, when they staged a sit-in outside of the Democratic National Headquarters demanding a Democratic primary debate dedicated to the discussion of climate. 

Wallace’s question delivered differing answers from the two candidates. Trump spoke about his aspiration of “crystal-clean water and air” while dodging questions about his rollbacks of Obama-era environmental legislation and withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords. Biden laid out his plan for renewable energy, but separated himself from the Green New Deal proposed by left-wing Democratic congresspeople. 

Although the candidates’ answers were filled with insults and interruptions, they still left an impression of their beliefs about climate change. Environmentalists and Americans worried about climate change were left with a sense of reassurance that this topic will be discussed further in the future of U.S. politics.