John Kerry finally remembered that he had a private jet. It’s a sticking point because it’s become a source of mockery, given that he’s Joe Biden’s climate czar. On Biden’s European trip, Kerry spent part with the president lecturing the British about green energy, which our cousins across the pond poorly received. He’s not the only one, but it’s common to see that the most vociferous global warming activists all happen to travel by private planes, taking their carbon footprint sky-high. Nothing wrong with private jets if you can afford them, but you’re in no position to lecture us about how we live our lives if the topic is carbon emissions.
Kerry fell into that trap at a congressional hearing this week. Things got interesting when he testified that he didn’t own a private jet, but it belonged to his family. It’s something many will rightfully see as a distinction without a difference. In the first 18 months of the Biden presidency, Kerry’s private jet exploits burned 325 metric tons of carbon. As New York Post’s Douglas Murray quipped, Kerry remembered that his family owned a private aircraft in “Heinz-sight.” It was one of many instances where Kerry got torched by congressional Republicans who, like many, can figure out what he does for the United States (via NY Post):
CLIMATE CZAR JOHN KERRY: “I've personally never owned a private jet!" pic.twitter.com/lajk1aQyYz
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 13, 2023
John Kerry: "Yes, my wife owned a plane...I do not fly on a private jet. I fly commercially."
— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) July 13, 2023
Rep. Mike Waltz: "Have you flown a private jet in a personal or official capacity since you've taken this position?"
John Kerry: "Possibly once." pic.twitter.com/3UX7jQmrEL
For the last two and a half years in the role, all we knew is that John Kerry has a budget of $16.7 million a year to run his czar-dom. Nobody knows how many staff he actually has working for him, but his “proposed staff” is 45 people. Which Kerry’s office has pointed out is the same size as the office set up to defeat ISIS. Not the best comparison to make. For while ISIS is all but dead, it isn’t at all clear what John Kerry has given the American taxpayers for their money.
Not accountability, that’s for sure.
Appearing before the congressional committee yesterday, Kerry was positively furious even to be asked about the people who worked for him.
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Whatever your stance on global warming, the extent to which it is man-made or in man’s (in particular America’s) gift to solve it, there is one thing that everybody can agree on: Nobody likes a hypocrite. So it was inevitable and delicious when the issue of the Kerry family’s private jet came up. Kerry raised it himself, dismissing the idea that he flies around the world on a private jet as a “persistent lie.”
Strong. Convincing even. Were it not for the facts.
“I don’t own a private jet,” insisted Kerry. “I’ve personally never owned a private jet.”
But there was one teensy little missing detail there that was promptly provided by Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.). In February this year, he noted, it was reported that the Kerry family recently sold their private jet after accusations of climate hypocrisy. Given that fact, did John Kerry stand by his previous statement — made under oath? Oh, it suddenly all came flooding back to the former senator.
“My wife owned a plane,” he said, as though plucking the memory from the distant past.
And how we all must surely sympathize with him. It could have happened to anyone.
It is easy to forget what you own when you’re married to a Heinz.
You could say Kerry suddenly remembered about his family jet in Heinz-sight.
WATCH: Biden's Climate Czar, John Kerry, who owns several homes, a yacht & travels by private jet:
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 12, 2023
"This is not complicated. It is the way we have chosen to propel our vehicles, heat our homes, light our factories and businesses. [...] We have two choices: you either capture the… pic.twitter.com/gXPOO9K3Xl
As Fox News aptly observed, the Left thinks we, the average American, must sacrifice and transition to more expensive green energy alternatives. Not everyone can afford an electric car or place solar panels on their roof. Also, these battery-powered boondoggles do not fare well in inclement weather, especially in winter. And then, advocacy for these green alternatives goes nowhere when you get these Kerry-like limousine liberals trying to take a sledgehammer to American families while burning carbon the way Hunter Biden goes through crack cocaine. Also, the British are right about Kerry’s green energy push: his timeline for this initiative is unrealistic and will result in more people becoming impoverished:
Joe Biden’s Climate Czar John Kerry lectures Joe Biden and King Charles on climate change. pic.twitter.com/T9gAfkHEVQ
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 10, 2023
British Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Grant Shapps blasted calls Monday for a rapid shift from fossil fuels during meetings with U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
Shapps' remarks came during a U.S.-U.K. climate summit in which both President Biden and King Charles III participated on Monday morning. They were made in response to Shell CEO Wael Sawan stating last week that the global energy system continues to "desperately need oil and gas" and that green energy development wasn't advanced enough to allow nations to abandon fossil fuels.
"There always has to be a transition … but it doesn't just happen overnight, in fact, it's idiotic to suggest you can," Shapps said, per the BBC. "If you tried to, you simply impoverish people and tell people they can no longer drive and they can no longer heat their homes."
John Kerry needs to retire from public life. He should have done that years ago after his tenure at the State Department expired. The man was a longtime US Senator, the 2004 Democratic Party nominee for president, and served as Obama’s secretary of state. He also doesn’t need to work. He’s independently wealthy. While his wife, Teresa Heinz, has a more substantial net worth, thanks to her previous marriage to the late Sen. John Heinz, Mr. Kerry has done alright for himself, being a member of the Forbes family on his mother’s side. He reportedly benefits from multiple trusts from that connection, but his long public service career will yield more opportunities. Just walk away. And like Biden, he’s almost 80.
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