James Comer would like a word with John Kerry…
According to a Fox News report, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressing concerns over Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry’s relationships with eco groups pushing to shut down coal production in the U.S.
Kerry and his office have been coordinating with environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), a group the U.S. formally joined in December.
“To meet our goal of 100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035, we need to phase out unabated coal, and we urge the world to join us in doing so, while working to grow good-paying clean energy jobs,” Kerry said in a statement on Dec. 2 from the COP28 United Nations climate summit in Dubai.
“Together with the Powering Past Coal Alliance, we will be working to accelerate unabated coal phase-out across the world, building stronger economies and more resilient communities,” he added. “The first step is to stop making the problem worse: stop building new unabated coal power plants.”
From Fox News:
Comer expressed concerns in his letter Friday that Kerry’s ultimate decision to join the PPCA was heavily influenced by nongovernmental organizations that may, in turn, be coordinating with foreign actors. Notably, the NRDC has significant operations and investment in China which the group says is aimed at assisting efforts to decarbonize the nation’s economy.
Comer also noted that coal-fired power plants continue to generate a large share of the nation’s total electricity. In 2022, coal accounted for 20% of total U.S. electricity generation, second only to natural gas, according to the Energy Information Administration.
“Documents produced to the Committee reveal that the State Department sought and received feedback from leftist environmental groups on the [PPCA] and enabled those groups to influence U.S. foreign policy,” Comer wrote to Blinken. “These documents raise significant concerns that confidential information related to U.S. foreign policy, energy policy, and national security policy, have been shared with these groups, including in off-the-record meetings with Envoy John Kerry.”
“The PPCA announcement was the latest example of Envoy Kerry and the Biden Administration taking actions under the guise of climate advocacy that undermine our economic health and threaten foreign policy priorities while avoiding congressional scrutiny,” the Oversight chairman continued.
More over at Fox News:
Top House committee probes John Kerry's coordination with eco groups pushing coal power shutdown https://t.co/SyhL8DeGIP
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