Kerry Calls Trump Biggest Loser at Cop31
The former US secretary of state argues that Washington’s exit from climate talks and clean energy incentives has ceded global economic ground to China.
By Amina Howard ·
Former US secretary of state John Kerry called President Donald Trump the "biggest loser we’ve seen in a long time" on Monday for withdrawing the United States from international climate cooperation and abandoning the clean energy sector to Chinese competitors.
Kerry made the remarks at the Cop31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey. The US administration has sent no delegation to the annual UN talks, a move that sets Washington apart from nearly every other nation in attendance. Kerry argued that the US is missing a critical opportunity to compete with China, which has dominated the clean technology market.
"He’s missing the competitiveness with China," Kerry said. "He’s missing the marketplace for goods that could be produced in the United States. We could be the supply chain for some of these."
Trump expressed his own hostility toward renewable energy on the same day. He stated that he would not approve wind turbines because they are a "major loser." This comment addressed potential legislation designed to simplify the construction of new energy projects. The president has previously described climate science as a hoax and urged nations to increase oil and gas drilling.
Kerry noted that the Biden administration passed sweeping climate legislation that offered tax breaks for clean energy and electric vehicle manufacturing. Republican leaders subsequently eliminated much of that support. The current administration has instead imposed tariffs on various goods and directed public funds to support struggling coal-fired power plants, a move Kerry described as blackballing an entire sector of the economy.
"He declared he wanted to beat China, be number one in X, Y, or Z, and he walked away from the battlefield," Kerry said. "He totally took America out of that sector. So honestly, if you want to be number one, you don’t do it by literally blackballing an entire sector of the economy."
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg arrived in Antalya on Tuesday. She criticized the slow progress of the talks, calling them "greenwashed circuses." UN secretary general António Guterres told delegates that it was "long past time" to phase out fossil fuel use to avoid catastrophic climate change. Global emissions edged down slightly last year due to rapid growth in renewables, but far deeper cuts remain necessary.
Kerry said that climate concerns overlapped with worries about rising energy costs and drove voters toward Democrats in recent midterms. He predicted that many of the victorious Democratic candidates would place the issue high on their agendas. A White House official dismissed the Cop31 talks, stating that the summit rejects reality by failing to acknowledge that extremist climate policies are destroying countries around the world.
