To be clear, the fact that John Kerry, a proven dim bulb, is allowed to address any group at all as the representative of the U.S. government (he’s the U.S. special presidential “envoy for climate”) also shows how irresponsible and incompetent the Biden administration is. Kerry, a college grad of even less distinction than Al Gore and with no science training, is as qualified to speak about the complex details of climate change as Greta Thunberg. Nonetheless, his fatuous presentation this week in Davos, Switzerland is revealing for anyone not blinded by climate change propaganda, talking points and doomsday scenarios.
Here are some of the fake Irish politician’s astute observations:
- “I’m convinced we will get to a low-carbon, no-carbon economy — we’re going to get there because we have to.
We can do it because we have to. Now there’s persuasive logic, at least to someone like Kerry. This would be talking down to an audience and patronizing them, if Kerry himself wasn’t likely to believe such rubbish. We’ll reduce the National Debt—because we have to! We’ll eliminate gun violence—because we have to! We’ll end war and racism—because we have to!
- “I am not convinced we’re going to get there in time to do what the scientists said, which is avoid the worst consequences of the crisis.”
According to the past predictions of those same scientists, we should have already seen coastal cities under water, snow a distant memory, and the polar bears keeping company with passenger pigeons….not that John Kerry being “convinced” of anything related to science should carry any weight whatsoever. He’s just mouthing what cherry-picked “experts” say in highly simplified, politically slanted summaries.
- “And those worst consequences are going to affect millions of people all around the world, [in] Africa and other places. Of the 20 most affected countries in the world from [the] climate crisis, 17 are in Africa.”
Ironically, it is exactly those same developing countries that most need to employ fossil fuels to advance economically—you know, like the United States did.
- “So, how do we get there? Well, the lesson I’ve learned in the last years and I learned it as secretary [of State] and I’ve learned it since, reinforced in spades, is: money, money, money, money, money, money, money.”
That’s the Democratic way, all right: throw money at any problem whether you know what you’re doing or not. And if there’s one thing the United States has, with its National Debt of 31 trillion dollars, it’s money. The federal government borrowed $4 billion a day in 2022.
- “Let’s face it, [a] whole bunch of companies in the world have chosen to say, ‘I’m going to be net zero by 2050’ And you and I, we know they don’t have a clue how they’re going to get there. And most of them are not on track to get there.”
We also all know, or should, that those pledges were just cynical and dishonest virtue-signaling, and that the companies have no intention of “getting there” because it takes “money, money, money.” But, to be fair, we know they will “get there” because they have to.
This is the level of deep thought the prestigious conference in Davos heard from the U.S. envoy. To be fair, Kerry’s blather is accurately representative of the thinking of the whole Biden team, but if this was the best he could do, they might as well have sent Kamala Harris.
Ethics Alarms 
Jack,
If Tahiti Wilson was still around, you could have pointed him to Kerry’s response and said, “This…this is government’s policy toward climate change.” Essentially, “we have no idea what we’re doing, but we intend to tax the living daylights out of you to do it.”
It’s pretty sad when the idea of “the Marx Brothers running the government” seems like a modest upgrade.
What we really need is a few decades of Jack Benny running the government.
I wonder how many understand the relationship Benny had with spending his money. We need more Jack Bennys in Congress.
Jack Benny never ran anything…Rochester did all the work!
“Oh Rohhchester…”
“Yas sir, Mister Benny!”
Anyone who thought Rochester wasn’t the man was an idiot.
Karl and his brothers? Seems a bit of a stretch, but given the current state of the USG I’ll grant it as plausible.
No, Groucho Marx…and his brothers.
I almost wish I could have endured Tahiti’s cretinism that long. Almost.
I’m going to assume John sailed to Davos and back on his sailboat rather than flying there on his wife’s jet?
Yeah, but, to be fair to Kerry, he didn’t increase his carbon footprint; nope: it was his wife’s plane, not his. But, she was heading there anyway, so he thought he was hitch a ride and killed two birds with one stone as it were.
jvb
Politicians who marry heiresses drive me absolutely nuts.
Kerry’s transport was most certainly one of the 500 private jet flights for the Davos conference participants. The elite do not concern themselves with optics or walking the talk.
That is for the little people.
Let’s look at one aspect of the goal of reducing carbon, shall we? My bumper sticker slogan, just so you have no confusion about where I stand. “Def is dumb”. Yes DEF or Diesel Exhaust Fluid. The def that others call urea ie fertilizer. In other words one of the biggest contributor of ag emissions in the US. Let’s explore DEF on the ground shall we? I’m sure you’ve noticed new shelves of the stuff in plastic containers in every single gas station now, but it gets better… where I am we get it in totes, plastic totes, non refillable, those totes have to be fetched from a store, 60 miles one way… yep 60. The DEF system sucks and frequently throws codes causing more repair service calls because when it breaks we can not move the equipment it just stops. Just one of these repair bills had 240 miles of billed travel fees. Costing money, parts and emissions from service calls. The sulfur which used to be absorbed from the air by crops now has to be purchased and applied, more cost and emissions… then we have the time lost due to breakdown of equipment, towing to repair shops etc… then we have the fact that the soy based wires are a frequent feast for mice causing more repairs at a cost of resources, time and money. Now here’s the real secret DEF can’t be stored just anywhere so more emissions fetching it from the back of the shed where you store it when it inevitably runs out during the worst possible moment. Again- it will not run without DEF. So here you are running 15, 20 miles just to add a few gallons of def. DEF, like any fertilizer is corrosive so more cost in pump parts. This stuff has to be clean too and it’s not very shelf stable. So school busses that sat over the summer are susceptible to stopping on the side of the road full of kids when they go back to school, debris when adding def can cause the entire system to need to be replaced.
My experiences with everything to do with the environmental movement has led to breakdowns, inconveniences, hassles and stress. They want land for pipelines, solar panels, power lines, and wind turbines which their paid agents get to hassle me with as often as they want. They want me to switch to electric when we’re not setup for that at all, they don’t seem to have any inconveniences for themselves while screaming at me that I’m not doing enough. The burden is clearly not on them while they’re whining about how I don’t believe them. Well I don’t. Nothing is a crisis that will happen 100 years from now. They can’t predict my weather with accuracy 5 days in advance and they want me to believe they know what will happen in 100 years if we do nothing? I don’t believe you. I don’t even think what is being done will help the environment. It’s more inefficient. Progress is never more inefficient from the previous system yet here we are. Putting money in peoples pockets by forced compliance with inefficient systems and products for a “crisis” that’s 100 years in the future. John Kerry is the poster child for being wrong and if they really wanted to help the climate, we’d let the best products win. We’re inherently going to do the easiest thing possible which leads to less energy use. Ie you don’t typically chop wood and burn it once you have another way to heat your house. You don’t look for more things to add to an engine to cause problems, but here we are… DEF is dumb and most people are clueless because they haven’t had the pleasure of having to deal with it. It’s illegal to remove it, people who do get a penalty and jail time. People who don’t get repair bills and equipment that won’t consistently run. There’s a reason why the used equipment market is so strong. Numbers don’t lie and there isn’t a viable electric option for equipment like this. Not yet.
Side note. Can we let the under age 65 crew run the government. Preferably younger. There’s an attitude of the elderly, they know they won’t have to live with whatever stunts they pull. Know it in their very soul and it makes them as reckless as any teen. Most have zero cares about about consequences past 5 years because they expect to be dead. It influences their decisions on a basic level. It makes them more focused on money and comfort today, never mind the confusion most of them begin to have.
I didn’t know anything about DEF, Demeter. What a goofy, Rube Goldberg set up. Electric farm machinery is absurd, but I have to say electric over the road trucks and … AIRPLANES are by far my favorite flying pigs. Thanks for the insight from the front lines of the battle against the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations). COTD worthy.
Interesting take on the over 65 set. I’ve always thought it was baby boomers who are blamed for the climate catastrophe and get accused of not believing in it. For example, I get that all the time from OB junior who’s forty-five. As does the Manhattan Contrarian, I consider the climate scare the greatest scientific fraud of all time. I want to ask these people, “Doesn’t a simply larger sample size explain any of this?”
“Yes DEF or Diesel Exhaust Fluid. The def that others call urea ie fertilizer. In other words one of the biggest contributor of ag emissions in the US.”
Not… Quite.
“Emissions” in that context might mislead. Urea is basically a source of Nitrogen…. Solid urea is scattered on soil to improve nitrogen quality, which fosters plant growth. Or at least that’s the idea, a good chunk of it invariably runs off when it rains and seeps into the water table. If by “emissions” you meant “nitrogen contamination of water” then sure.
But there’s not really an issue with urea emitting nitrogen gas into the air…. It doesn’t do that to begin with, and even if it did, the air around us is almost 80% nitrogen to begin with. DEF is injected into the exhaust of diesel engines and reacts with NOx gases (nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide) to produces dihydrogen monoxide (water) and nitrogen gas.
I’m not saying diesel engines work better with DEF injectors, they don’t. I’m not saying that DEF isn’t stupid, or that having a DEF ignition interlock devices isn’t stupid to the point of being a safety hazard, it is and they are. But DEF actually does improve air quality.
How much and at what cost is always the question that never gets asked.
I’m sure you’re correct. My statement was based on ALL fertilizers which Urea is part of that and from EPA data that’s likely been updated. Sorry for that not being clear.
Their website has changed so I’m not seeing the same handy charts if I do, I’ll post it. Def may improve air quality but it costs a lot in terms of repairs, loss of time, replacement parts, extra emissions in mileage, and flat out fetching it and containment. It’s not cost free, not at all, and it’s cost us on a micro scale multiple thousands of dollars in repairs annually nevermind the cost of downtime and the cost of def itself. How much better is the air quality when your equipment has to be taken to the shop several times a year using extra fuel? How many tow trucks are called out because of DEF?
This probably seems like a lot, but recall the US feeds most of the world. 155+ people per acre. Nothing is without a cost.
“ The largest source of U.S. agricultural emissions was agricultural soil management, e.g., fertilizer applications or tillage practices, at 345 million metric tons, approximately 55% of all agricultural emissions and only 5% of total U.S. emissions.”
https://www.fb.org/market-intel/previewing-2019-agricultural-emissions
DEF is another reason I will not part with my 2003 Ram Cummins; its pre-DEF. They will have to pull my cold, dead foot from the clutch pedal.
The “soy based” part is not to blame. Mice do that to wires anyway, edible or not, as part of their rodent behaviour requires grinding down and sharpening their ever growing front teeth (they often die horribly if they lose a tooth and its pair grows into the tissue opposite). Heroic Soviet mice contributed nobly to the victory at Stalingrad by nesting in German tanks that had been laid up over winter as a reserve, and then destroying their wiring.
For JM:-
I have somewhere heard that, in the last year or so of the Second World War, Goebbels switched the propaganda refrain to “das man muss man kann”; if so, he anticipated that framing.
Was it not Joel Grey in Cabaret that sang “Money, money, money makes the world go around..”
And don’t forget Liza….
Here is the most depressing part of his comment is this:
“”When you start to think about it, it’s pretty extraordinary that we — select group of human beings because of whatever touched us at some point in our lives — are able to sit in a room and come together and actually talk about saving the planet,” Kerry remarked. “I mean, it’s so almost extraterrestrial to think about ‘saving the planet.’”
“Select group”? All they do is talk about stuff.
Did you see that Greta got detained by the police yesterday? Yep. She was protesting climate crises of some sort at a German mine so the police detained her. German authorities are denying that the whole incident was staged:
https://www.yahoo.com/now/greta-thunberg-german-police-deny-173352440.html
jvb
“because of whatever touched us at some point in our lives”
You mean having a gold-plated Boston Brahmin for a mother and marrying the heiress to the Heinz fortune?
He’s such a nitwit. Who else served in Vietnam and took along a Super 8 camera to film staged action shots of themselves carrying a rifle in the jungle when they were serving in the NAVY?
Konstantin Kisin gave a nice speech related to climate change recently at the Oxford Union. It was actually about how wokeness just convinces young people that they don’t have agency, but what we really need to do is convince them they can make a difference through science (rather than throwing soup at art work), but with climate change as his example.
He talks about how the future of the climate is in the hands of poor people in developing countries who do not care about saving the planet and just want to not be poor. He was talking to Brits, telling them that, realistically, the UK contributes such a small percentage of greenhouse gases, that if they ceased to exist, it would make no difference. The difference they can make is in developing cleaner and cheaper energy. Less “we can because we must” and more “we will because we can”.