Kerry’s First Amendment Problem Reveals a Dark Side of the Energy Transition

Speaking at an event organized by the World Economic Forum last week, former Biden/Harris climate czar John Kerry delivered extensive remarks focused on his belief that the free flow of information in the US, guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, is a roadblock to the Democratic party’s goals of fully implementing its grand Green New Deal. In delivering these comments, Kerry reveals a very dark side of the energy transition.

Here is part of what Kerry had to say: “if people go to only one source and the source they go to is sick and, you know, has an agenda and they’re putting out disinformation, our First Amendment stands as a major roadblock to the ability to be just, you know, hammered out of existence.”

He went on to talk about his belief – one that I share and have written about many times – that the goals of the Green New Deal, and the long-term central planning required to force a debt-funded subsidized transition into being, are not compatible with the maintenance of democratic institutions and processes, or with the free flow of information.

“[T]hat’s part of our problem,” Kerry remarked, adding, “particularly in democracies in terms of building consensus around any issue. It’s really hard to govern today – you can’t, you know, there’s no referees to determine what’s a fact and what isn’t. So, it’s…much harder to build consensus today than at any time in the 45, 50 years I’ve been involved in this.”

To fully understand Kerry’s frustration here, you need to go back to the origins of his political career 52 years ago, when he first campaigned for a Massachusetts congressional seat in 1972. At that time, the U.S. government found it far easier to gain consensus around big issues, mainly because it was so much easier to control the narrative in a usually cooperative domestic news media. At the time, the government only had to gain the cooperation of a handful of major news organs, including CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.