Posted on 12/14/2015 3:55:19 PM PST by markomalley
Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that international shame and condemnation is “the most powerful weapon in many ways” to ensure countries comply with the newly-signed climate change accord reached in Paris, which is meant to lower greenhouse gas emissions around the world.
Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, Kerry defended the merits of the climate agreement, but host Chuck Todd challenged him on how the deal will be implemented.
“There’s a lot of pledges. There’s a lot of promises. But there seems to be no mechanism for getting countries to comply other than wagging your finger at them and shaming them. Am I wrong?” Todd asked.
“Well that’s the most powerful weapon in many ways,” Kerry replied, “but it’s not the only weapon. And, in fact, we think that there are other powerful weapons.”
Kerry said President Obama has been able to move action on climate change in the United States not just by enforcement mechanisms but also “by setting policy,” which he says took place in Paris with this agreement.
“Here we set policy,” Kerry said, with 186 countries each submitting their own proposal to reduce emissions based on their capabilities.
Kerry then cited a “mandatory, legally binding reporting mechanism,” which requires participant countries to update their plans every five years so they can meet the deal’s goals and do more if necessary.
“People understand this issue,” Kerry said. “This is not a question of just doing it because it seems nice or politically it’s good. It’s because it’s [climate change] having a profoundly negative impact on nations. They need to respond, and that’s perhaps the most compelling reason of all.”
Todd pushed Kerry on what exactly will happen if a country does not fully adhere to the agreement.
“Okay, so somebody doesn’t comply. Again, what’s this law that you’re going to hit them with, other than international shame?” Todd asked.
Kerry explained that a mechanism is being set up under the framework of the agreement “that will promote compliance,” in which nations will help “bring them on board.”
“You don’t always need a sledgehammer,” Kerry said. “If you can provide people with technology, or you provide them with technical assistance, or you’ve discovered a new means of reducing emissions…at least cost, more efficiency, there will be a huge sharing of these kinds of experiences through the reporting mechanism of the agreement. And that’s going to have a profound impact on a lot of countries, Chuck.”
Kerry admitted that all of this is not necessarily enough “to get us there,” but it will “send a powerful message to the global marketplace.” He said on Fox News Sunday that there would not have been a deal at all if there were actual penalties for not meeting emissions standards.
Kerry said it is expected that the world will invest about $50 trillion into energy over the next 30 or 40 years, and that will be one of the main factors causing countries to “spontaneously move in this direction, because there’s jobs to be created, money to be made, and there’s a population to respond to in terms of the demand of their citizens.”
And Revolution II will be the best way to combat you and your science illiterate friends, Kerryhole.
Try it.
Just try it.
Muslims too. Once other countries start shaming them, they’ll stop the terrorism, don’t you think?
I thought the left considered shaming to be equivalent to bullying which they consider a “hate crime” if you were shaming a Muslim or a gay or lesbian. So for Kerry to admit he’d like to use shaming/bullying-(hate crime) to enforce climate change requirements, shouldn’t HE be investigated? They can’t have it both ways.
Kerry was publicly shamed in 2004—Unfit for Duty.
Didn’t faze him at all.
Shame has to be based on facts, no?
A bunch of people doing voodoo mathematics under various glorified names, aren’t facts. They’re wild speculations at best.
Kerry is the person who came close to being the President.
Al Gore came close to being the President.
I agree W was not perfect but those two bozo’s would have given the clown a bad name.
Nice!
That would make a great Christmas card for your enviro-wackjob friends (you do have a few enviro-wackjob friends just for sport, don’t ya? ;’}
John F. Kerry is one of the most evil men in government, I am convinced.
Everyone knows better than to gt me started. It’s been 2 years since we fought and kept Big Blow from building any more of the damn things in our area, but I still have my “NO WIND TURBINES” sign in the flower bed by my front door.
Will all this BS about climate change that is being forced down our throats be null and void if Trump or Cruz is elected?
When in an indefensible position, heap shame upon your opponent. It stops all reasonable debate, especially for an idiot like Kerry.
Democrats would have us believe global warming is the greatest threat we face.
Most Americans understand that our present immigration polices are the greatest threat we face.
How about publically shaming the Muslim Jihadist terrorists, Kerry??? whadaya think about that?
This mockery of a man. He will travel to Iran with Boy George to sing “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me.”
Here in Washington state they have hundreds and hundreds of those Bird Choppers but thankfully at least they put them out in the middle of nowhere.
Some people’s mind never matured past 3rd grade communications.
Yeah that’s clear-headed thinking. I would have put them in the cities where they might reduce the numbers of winged rats that seem to occupy every horizontal surface provided by man rather than song birds and raptors. That puts power generation nearest to those who consume it as a secondary benefit with the low level auditory perception annoyance to the leftists ears providing the third. They want windmills let them enjoy the benefits.
Tar and feathers judicially applied would have stopped this nonsense. It is all about taxing energy we use and killing jobs—the POSOTUS main objectives.
That'll be $42.88 and would you like to add $100 billion dollars to save planet earth?
China has lots of abandoned coal mines that are burning due to their poor techniques and safety standards. The amount of CO2 from burning coal mines equals that put out by all U.S. cars and trucks. A couple of years ago China was bringing a new coal-fired plant on line every couple of weeks or so! I wonder if China’s contribution will be to cut back to one every three weeks?
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