Global Courant 2023-05-06 00:41:35
EXCLUSIVE: The chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, James Comer, R-Ky., vowed Friday to keep a close eye on Presidential Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry’s climate negotiations with China.
Comer said the committee, which has broad investigative powers, remains concerned about Kerry’s high-level role in setting climate policy and entering international talks, despite it never being confirmed by the Senate. The State Department confirmed on Friday that Kerry has recently resumed climate talks with his Chinese counterpart and is planning additional meetings.
“For the past two years, the Biden administration has withheld information about John Kerry’s role in government despite the committee’s many requests,” Comer told Fox News Digital in a statement. “He was not confirmed by the Senate. He is not held accountable by the American people. He is beyond congressional oversight and that is unacceptable.”
“His reported impending negotiations with the Chinese on climate issues, an action he has taken on numerous occasions, is inappropriate and may undermine US interests and domestic energy security,” he continued. “Mr. Kerry’s continued involvement in shady negotiations will be met with intense scrutiny by the committee.”
BIDEN CLIMATE Tsar JOHN KERRY’S TOP MPS DISCUSS THE ‘OFF PAPER’ DISCUSSIONS
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is photographed at the Capitol on Jan. 12. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The top Republican lawmaker added that last week the panel sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken about Kerry’s role as a special envoy to the State Department. Comer said he expects “nothing less than full cooperation” from the agency.
Comer announced in February that the Oversight Committee would open an investigation into Kerry’s secret negotiations with Chinese climate diplomats.
JOHN KERRY’S OFFICE CONSULTED LEFT-WING ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS WHILE DEVELOPING POLICY, EMAILS APPEAR
“Secretary Kerry last spoke virtually with his counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, in April as part of their ongoing talks about the critical work needed to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis,” a State Department spokesperson told me. to Fox News Digital. “He has been invited by Xie Zhenhua to visit China sometime in the future and personally continue these talks, but no formal plans have been made for this meeting.”
“President Biden and President Xi agreed in one of their first conversations that this is a global crisis and that the PRC and the US have a role to play in addressing it,” the spokesman continued. “They also agreed that they would try to keep this issue separate from the many other issues between our two countries.”
Since President Biden appointed him as the first-ever SPEC, Kerry’s office has been tight-lipped about his actions and refuses to share details about its internal operations, leading to criticism from Comer and other Republicans. In the meantime, he has traveled the world, attending high-profile climate summits and making diplomatic appointments on behalf of the US government in an effort to drive a global transition from fossil fuels to green energy alternatives.
John Kerry speaks during an interview in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sept. 5, 2022. (Linh Pham/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
As part of that effort, Kerry has held several private conversations with Chinese counterparts, including two meetings in 2021 that took place in China. After a regional climate summit in April 2021, Kerry told CNBC that solving climate change “wasn’t about China.”
However, China is still responsible for about 27% of total global emissions – almost tripling the total of the US, the world’s second largest emitter, according to Rhodium Group – and continues to approve and build a large number of coal plants.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In addition, internal State Department emails obtained by Fox News Digital suggest that there is little oversight of Kerry’s work and that he is considered to be on the same level as Blinken. The emails — recently obtained via a request for data by the watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust and shared with Fox News Digital — came in response to a 2021 congressional inquiry.
“The Secretary of State consults closely and regularly with the Presidential Special Envoy for Climate to ensure policy coordination,” a State Department official whose name was redacted told staff at the Senate Judiciary Committee in a May 2021 email. foreign relations, in response to a question about whether Blinken has authority. above Kerry.
“We have established several mechanisms and channels to ensure robust coordination between their respective staffers, including regular meetings between the chiefs and deputy chiefs of staff and other senior policy advisers,” the official continued.
Thomas Catenacci is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
