May 4, 2021

USA: John Kerry Says We Need To Remove Carbon Dioxide From The Atmosphere. Humans Exhale Carbon Dioxide. Plants Use The Carbon Dioxide We Breathe Out And Create The Oxygen We Breathe In.

The Daily Caller
written by Maydeen Merino
Thursday April 22, 2021

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, speaking at the Leaders Summit on Climate, said Thursday that carbon dioxide emissions reaching a net zero would not be enough to prevent climate change.

President Biden invited 40 world leaders to participate in the summit with the goal of addressing climate change issues and presenting policies for the future. Kerry spoke at the event as a representative of the U.S., saying that humanity must make efforts to actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

“You said twice, getting to net zero is going to be hard, really hard. And just remind everybody that it will depend on whether or not we have breakthrough technologies, some breakthrough inventions, number one,” Kerry stated at the summit. “But even if we get to net zero, we still have to get carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. So this is a bigger challenge than a lot of people haven’t really grabbed onto yet.”

“Net zero” refers to a balance of greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions removed from the atmosphere, according to the Climate Council.

Leaders at the summit are also discussing the economic benefits of climate action and opportunities to protect citizens in vulnerable geographic areas from the impacts of climate change, according to the White House.

The U.S. has committed to removing half of their emissions by 2030, according to the New York Times.
Axios
written by Lachlan Markay
Friday April 30, 2021

John Kerry disclosed millions in income and a massive stock portfolio that he's liquidated since taking office as President Biden’s special climate envoy, according to a financial filing obtained by Axios on Friday.

Why it matters: Kerry is among the wealthiest members of the Biden administration. He maintains significant influence over U.S. energy and environmental policy as Biden's climate envoy, a role that comes after he advised a number of firms in the space following his time as secretary of State.
  • The State Department, where Kerry officially works again, says he has divested assets that could pose a conflict of interest, and signed an ethics pledge barring him from participating in specific policymaking decisions that could affect his former clients and employers.
The big picture: Kerry received millions of dollars in salary, consulting fees and honoraria, according to the filing, which covers 2020 and most of January 2021.
  • He drew a $5 million salary from Bank of America. He was tapped as chairman of the bank's global advisory council months after his tenure as Barack Obama's second secretary of State.
  • He landed $382,400 in speaking fees from entities including Deutsche Bank, Waste Management and Cornell University.
  • Kerry also reported compensation "in excess of $5,000" for more than a dozen other speeches in 2019, including ones to Barclays, Zurich Insurance and the foundation run by Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk.
Kerry also reported receiving $125,000 in consulting fees from The Rise Fund, an investment firm with a significant renewable energy portfolio, just one of the entities in the energy and environment space to which he reported business ties.
  • Kerry was the advisory board chairman for Climate Finance Partners, which "creates innovative and globally needed finance solutions that address climate change."
  • He was also the president of the Vietnam Sustainable Energy Corporation.
  • In addition, Kerry reported receiving more than $5,000 in compensation as an advisor to the New York-based investment firm Ripplewood, which specializes in leveraged buyouts. The firm is run by his friend Tim Collins.
Kerry's huge stock portfolio was largely held through a trust affiliated with his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, heiress to the Heinz food processing fortune.
  • He reported liquidating between $4.2 million and $15 million in stock holdings last month.
  • Federal ethics rules could permit Kerry to defer capital gains taxes on those sales by reinvesting the money in "permitted" assets such as treasury bonds or exchange-traded funds. It was not immediately clear whether Kerry had done so or planned to.
What they're saying: "The State Department's Ethics Office reviewed Special Presidential Envoy Kerry's assets and investments upon his appointment to identify holdings that could pose a significant risk of a conflict of interest," a State Department spokesperson told Axios.
  • "Special Presidential Envoy Kerry agreed to divest the assets identified by the Ethics Office and has done so."

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 1:15 AM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)