U.S. Climate Envoy, 79-year-old former Secretary of State John Kerry (D-Mass.) gave Biden some cover with his rocky relationship to Communist China, meeting for four hours in Beijing with this Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua. White House officials hope for a positive diplomatic score with Kerry following up with commitments made under the Oct. 31, 2021 Glasgow Climate Summit. With the U.S. supplying unlimited cash and lethal weapons to battle the Kremlin in Ukraine, Kerry knows the extent of carbon pollution occurring in a war zone in the heart of Europe. Without admitting to gross climate pollution in Ukraine, Kerry engaged in some welcomed diplomacy at a time of maximum tension between Beijing and Washington over Taiwan. President Joe Biden, 80, threw U.S.-Chinese into chaos Sept 23, 2022 saying he would commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan in case of a Chinese invasion.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, 70, made clear he considers Taiwan part of Communist China, much like Hong Kong. Taiwan’s 66-year-old President Tsai Ing-wen said that Taiwan will never be part of Mainland China, running counter to officials Beijing policy. Biden’s statement about defending Taiwan violated the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, singed into law by former President Jimmy Carter, recognizing only one China and ending the 1954 Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty. Meeting with Zhenhua, Kerry called for “urgent action,” while the Biden White House gives Ukraine unlimited cash-and-lethal weapons, creating more carbon pollution than any active war zone on the planet. Kerry said as much but muzzled himself to avoid any embarrassment to the White House. “Both countries “must take urgent action on a number of fronts, especially challenges of coal and methane pollution,” Kerry said.
Biden signed Nov. 15, 2021 a bipartisan $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill devoting $50 billion to climate change. Biden’s 64-year-old Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm committed the U.S. in Glasgow to new Small Modular Reactors [SMR], a technology deigned to eliminate problems with older generation nuclear reactors. Kerry wants China to commit to stop using coal-fired and methane electric plants, known for high levels of carbon pollution associated with today’s climate change AKA global warming. “The climate crisis demands that the world’s two largest economies work together to limit the earth’s pollution,” Kerry tweeted after the talks. Kerry mentions nothing about tons of carbon pollution produced in the Ukraine war zone, not to mention the White House emphasis on nuclear power. Kerry knows that there are still coal-fired plants generating electricity in the United States.
When it comes to Climate Change, everyone agrees that something must be done to reduce green house gases or carbon dioxide emissions but don’t know where to start. Biden has pushed for electric cars and trucks that have zero tailpipe emissions but creates more strain on an already stressed electrical grid. Electric carmakers can’t figure out what to do with used of lithium ion batteries once they’ve been retired. While there are some companies working on recycling there are no guarantees of how to dispose of the toxic battery materials. China would “exchange view with the United States on issues related to climate change, and work together to meet challenges and improve the well being and future generations,” said Foreign Minister Spokeperson Mao Ning. Yet national Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, 45, continues tp antagonize Communist China for not doing enough..
Since taking office Sullivan has been a one man wrecking crew, criticizing the Beijing government for alleged human rights abuses. “Every country, including China, has a responsibility to reduce emissions,” Said Sullivan. “And the world, I do believe, should step up and encourage—indeed pressure—China to take far more dramatic action to reduce emissions,” Sullivan said, provoking Beijing. Kerry tried to find common ground on a subject important to the global community. But Sullivan quickly puts pressure on Beijing to act on climate change. When it comes to U.S.-Chinese relations, they’re almost as bad as U.S.-Russian relations where Biden actively funds a proxy war in Ukraine against the Kremlin. U.S. officials point fingers at Beijing but they don’t admit the amount of U.S. coal-fired plants, plus the vast majority of carbon polluting methane electric plants.
Kerry’s visit to Beijing keeps the climate change dialogue going but does little to fix greenhouse gas pollution in China of the U.S. “The Kerry visit and the resumption of climate interaction underscores the critical importance of coordinated efforts to address the climate crisis,” said Chunping Xie, Senior Policy Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and Environment. Kerry wants to present the U.S. as a model of climate change but the country still usea coal-fired and methane plants contributing to climate change. Chinese President Xi Jinping says he’s committed to reducing coal fire-plants and eventually methane but a transition to new nuclear technology won’t occur quickly in China or the United States. Transitioning in the U.S. and China off methane plants won’t be easy because of the sheer volume of methane turbines fueling the electrical grid.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
