Fox News revealed a video interview with former Secretary of State John Kerry, the U.S. president’s special envoy on climate issues, on Feb. 3 for 2019. When asked why he traveled by private jet to Iceland to receive an environmental award, Kerry defended himself by saying that traveling by private jet remains “the only option for people like me who have traveled around the world to win this battle.” Fox News said the event had not been previously reported in the U.S. media.
The little-known interview released by Fox News is from an interview with Kerry on Icelandic national radio and television (RUV) while he was in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, to receive the Arctic Circle Award.
When asked by the reporter if the voyage with his private jet was environmentally friendly, Kerry said in the video that he was not a good friend. In the video, Kerry said he has played an important role in efforts to combat climate change, including representing the United States in the Paris climate agreement negotiations. “I can’t cross oceans, I have to get on a plane and meet with people to get things done.” He believes that what he does for climate change offsets the emissions impact of flying in a private jet. He added: “I’ve been fighting climate change almost full-Time, I’ve given my time and my Life, and I’m not going to defend that.”
“Kerry apparently has not considered traveling on commercial aircraft, according to an article published by Russia Today TV on March 3, and Iceland Air is one of the sponsors of the Arctic Circle conference in October 2019. As a keynote speaker at the conference, Kerry also received an award, and it was apparently feasible to travel on a commercial aircraft provided by Iceland Air. A study by Lund University in Sweden showed that each passenger flying on a private jet emits about 40 times more carbon dioxide than a commercial airliner.
The chairman of the Arctic Circle Round Table, which has been a strong advocate for climate-related issues and therefore received the 2019 award, said Kerry was “also critical of Kerry’s participation in Iceland on a private jet,” according to the Icelandic national broadcaster (RÚV). “
Kerry still owns a private jet through his Family company, and according to a Fox News report, “flight records show that his family’s private jet flew more than 20 hours in the past year, resulting in 116 tons of carbon emissions.”
For comparison, Fox News pulled out estimates from a March 2018 report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the typical family car, at 22.0 miles per gallon, can only emit about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide when driven about 11,500 miles per year.
Climate change stories remain particularly popular among Hollywood’s elite, but they also have a track record of flying on private jets. star of NBC’s “The Voice” John Legend and his wife Chrissy Teigen, both climate hardliners, boarded a private jet after Biden‘s inauguration last month. private jet to attend the show.
The news of Kerry’s outsized carbon footprint comes as Democrats are considering proposals to reform the U.S. energy economy, including achieving net zero emissions by 2050, which could send personal costs to households and Americans skyrocketing.
That would cost the economy millions of jobs, thousands of lost household incomes and trillions of dollars wiped out of the country’s gross domestic product, the Heritage Foundation said. By 2040, it is estimated that reducing carbon emissions by just 58 percent would cost the economy $15 trillion in lost GDP by 2040 and eliminate an average of 1.1 million jobs per year. The average total income loss per family of four is $165,000, or nearly $8,000 per year.
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