Former Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday announced his plans to launch a climate change coalition made up of world leaders, former members of the military and Hollywood celebrities.
The organization, dubbed World War Zero, was given the name to spark a sense of national urgency to address climate change. According to Kerry, if Americans fail to act and cut carbon admissions by 2050 then "wartime mobilization" would ensue, The New York Times reported.
Those who joined Kerry's coalition include former Presidents Bill Clinton (D) and Jimmy Carter (D), former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) and actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher.
Over the next year the group plans to hold rallies and town hall meetings across the country. Their focus will be on battleground states, military bases and "economically depressed areas that members say could benefit from clean energy jobs."
“We’re going to try to reach millions of people, Americans and people in other parts of the world, in order to mobilize an army of people who are going to demand action now on climate change sufficient to meet the challenge,” Kerry told The Times.
The group is currently launching with $500,000 in the bank.
Not surprisingly, Kerry talked about the coalition on MSNBC's "Meet the Press."
"There are great efforts out there by many young people particularly but no country is getting the job done," he explained. "The simple reality is we're way behind, way behind the eight ball. Things are getting worse, not better."
Kerry said "unlikely allies are coming together" and the coalition is diverse "in terms of nationality, age, gender, ideology, background, life experience."
"They're all coming together to say we have to treat this like a war," he explained. "It has to require decision making and organization and efforts that's not taking place."
WATCH: Talking about the climate coalition World War Zero, Fmr. Sec of State @JohnKerry says "we are way behind the eight ball" on combating climate change #MTP #IfItsSunday
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) December 1, 2019
"Things are getting worse, not better. And so we have our unlikely allies coming together here." pic.twitter.com/xlI45r2Ngi
Others who have made climate change one of their hot topic issues applauded Kerry:
The climate crisis is an international emergency—I’m glad to see my friend @JohnKerry bringing together so many leaders to fight “World War Zero” with their collective power. https://t.co/n5fj8pg62b
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) November 30, 2019
World War Zero will mobilize Americans across the political spectrum, proving that we can find common ground to take climate action.
— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) December 1, 2019
Thank you for your tireless dedication to defeating this crisis, Sec. @JohnKerry. https://t.co/CAJXnFBDpv