US Climate Envoy John Kerry was not elected by anyone to represent the United States at climate conferences, nor was he confirmed to his position by the US Senate. The job he holds is an informal one, though highly paid, a position that affords him power to do little more than fly around the world and talk, something he does with great frequency.
He certainly has no authority to commit the United States to treaties or other international agreements, which have traditionally required Senate approval. Thus, Kerry’s announcement this week at the COP28 meeting in Dubai that he has committed the United States to be a signatory to a deal to shut down all unabated coal-fired power plants seems specious at best. Certainly, it is non-binding on the US government, rendering it little more than a symbolic action designed to generate news stories from an eagerly cooperative media establishment.
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