NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
EXCLUSIVE: Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry’s family jet has emitted over 300 metric tons of carbon dioxide since the Biden administration began, federal data shows.
Kerry’s family jet, a Gulfstream GIV-SP, has made a total of 48 trips lasting more than 60 hours and emitted an estimated 715,886 pounds, or 325 metric tons, of carbon since President Biden was sworn into office, according to federal data obtained by Fox News Digital via FlightAware. The plane belongs to Flying Squirrel LLC., a charter company owned by Kerry’s wife Teresa Heinz-Kerry and in which Kerry reported owning a more than $1 million stake on his most recent financial disclosure.
President Biden appointed Kerry to lead the State Department’s global climate policy outreach shortly after taking office in January 2021. Since then, Kerry has traveled around the world to United Nations (UN) climate conferences, meetings with international heads of state and the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
The climate envoy is slated to jet off this week to the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, a UN summit where representatives from 40 countries will negotiate emissions reductions and climate financing for developing nations, in Berlin, Germany.
Special climate envoy, John Kerry speaks during a UN climate change conference on Nov. 10, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland.
(Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)
When asked, Kerry’s office suggested he would travel to the conference and return to the U.S. via commercial airline. His office similarly said he wouldn’t travel to the WEF conference in May by private plane.
“No,” a Kerry spokesperson said in an email to Fox News Digital when asked if Kerry would travel to Germany via private jet.
“Secretary Kerry travels commercially or via military air in his role as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate,” the spokesperson added.
After Biden announced he would pick Kerry to be climate envoy, Kerry tweeted Americans “will soon have a government that treats the climate crisis as the urgent national security threat it is.” He has also repeatedly pushed for a green transition away from fossil fuels, warning polluters of major consequences.
Kerry said the U.S. must begin shutting down existing power plants, not building new ones, during remarks given in January.
“The problem with folks like John Kerry and the climate hypocrites who run the green movement is that they want to use the coercive power of government,” Executive Director of Power The Future Daniel Turner told Fox News Digital in an interview. “They want to use it internationally with groups like the UN, etc. They want to use the power of government to deny the rest of us the ability to use those fossil fuels that they take for granted.”
BIDEN EPA PROPOSES REGULATION THAT FARMERS WARN WILL DRIVE FOOD PRICES HIGHER
“They refuse to voluntarily live how they want the rest of us to be forced to live,” he continued “It doesn’t just make them hypocrites, it makes them, quite frankly, a threat to the rights and freedoms of people around the world. When John Kerry voluntarily lives the way he wants the rest of us to be compelled to live, then we can talk about his climate goals.”
Turner added that he doesn’t begrudge Kerry traveling via private plane or owning multiple mansions. Rather, he takes issue with Kerry taking advantage of fossil fuels while attempting to deny the same advantages to the average American.
John Kerry, seen on the left, was appointed by President Biden, seen on the right, in early 2021 to lead the State Department’s global climate policy outreach as a special climate envoy for climate.
(Getty Images)
“At what point will John Kerry and all of the world leaders who care about climate change ever jump on a Zoom call?” Turner said.
Amid the start of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue on Monday, UN Climate Change Acting Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw tweeted that it is time for “tough decisions.” He decried nations turning to fossil fuels, even amid a global energy crisis threatening much of the world.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
“It’s troubling to observe some nations returning to the embrace of fossil fuels,” Thiaw said. “Now is not the time to retreat on the promises of the [Paris Agreement] & the Glasgow Climate Pact.”
The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
