Kenneth Glad
The race to power the future is heating up, and countries around the world are fighting for the lead. While most nations are gathered in Turkey this week to map out the next steps for clean energy, one major player has stayed home. That absence has sparked a sharp war of words.
Former US secretary of state and 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry did not hold back at the Cop31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey. Speaking to The Guardian, Kerry slammed President Donald Trump for pulling America out of global climate talks and handing the clean energy market to China.
Trump has earlier taken aim at renewable power, saying, “I will not approve wind turbines because wind turbines are a major loser.” When the British newspaper asked Kerry about that remark, he fired right back.
“[The] first thing they should do is hold up a really big mirror so he can look at a loser, because he’s the biggest loser we’ve seen in a long time on all of these issues,” Kerry said.
Walking away
The Guardian writes that the White House skipped the UN summit altogether, calling it an event that backs “extremist climate policies.” Back home, Trump and Republican lawmakers have rolled back clean energy tax breaks passed under former president Joe Biden and shifted public funds toward coal plants.
Kerry argues that this strategy hurts American business. “He’s missing the competitiveness with China,” Kerry said, noting that US factories could be building the green tech the world wants to buy.
Instead of competing, Washington has stepped aside. “He declared he wanted to beat China, be number one in X, Y, or Z, and he walked away from the battlefield,” Kerry said.
Pressure from all sides
Even as global emissions dipped slightly last year thanks to booming renewable power, leaders in Antalya warned that progress remains far too slow. UN secretary general António Guterres told delegates it is “long past time” to move away from fossil fuels, The Guardian reported.
Activists are losing patience too. Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg arrived in Turkey on Tuesday and dismissed the annual summits outright, saying, “Cops have become greenwashed circuses.”
Still, Kerry sees signs of political change at home. He told The Guardian that voter frustration over high energy bills helped Democrats in the recent US midterm elections, suggesting climate and energy costs will soon return to the top of Washington’s agenda.
