According to Agence France-Presse on January 31, Joe Biden on Wednesday appointed John Podesta, another senior Washington insider, to replace John Kerry as the U.S. climate envoy to deal with a key issue for the United States.
According to the report, the 75-year-old Podesta has played an important but behind-the-scenes role in three Democratic Democrats** and is responsible for overseeing the implementation of Biden's signature legislative program, the Inflation Reduction Act. The bill promises billions of dollars in funding for green investments.
White House Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zintz said Podesta was "an American politician and a strong champion of bold climate action" and that he would succeed Kerry and "continue to tackle the current dire situation."
Kerry will step down as US climate envoy to help Biden run for re-election in an informal capacity and work with the private sector to wean itself off carbon-intensive industries.
A White House** said Podesta would be in charge of climate diplomacy and represent the U.S. overseas, but would continue to oversee the team enforcing the Inflation Reduction Act.
The appointment comes days after Biden** said he would freeze approvals for new LNG export facilities, giving climate activists a victory.
Anjun Su, director of the Energy Justice Program at the Center for Biodiversity, said: "The recent moratorium on natural gas exports has made Podesta a leader in the phase-out of fossil fuels and the expansion of clean energy that we desperately need. ”
But Podesta's presidency comes just a year ago, and Biden has said that climate change is an existential threat, and he is expected to face Donald Trump, a climate skeptic who supports fossil fuel companies.
Podesta first became a household name because he was tasked with dealing with the crisis that Bill Clinton faced over a sex scandal with intern Monica Lewinsky.
In addition, White House Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zintz said in a statement on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg News on February 1, "For three years, Kerry has worked tirelessly around the world to help restore U.S. leadership on climate issues and rally countries around the world to take historic action to address the climate crisis." We need to continue to deal with the current serious crisis, and no one can ensure that we do that better than John Podesta. ”
According to the report, Kerry's office is in *** Unlike him, Podesta will remain in the White House in his new capacity, officially serving as **'s senior adviser on international climate policy. Lawyer said this allowed him to circumvent the requirement that the envoy be sent to *** with Senate approval.
Zintz said Podesta "has and will continue to lead the push for the implementation of the most important climate law in history."
Kerry, 80, served as U.S. secretary of state. His relationships with foreign leaders have helped advance negotiations on past climate agreements. Podesta is unlikely to maintain the kind of tight international travel arrangements that Mr. Kerry's tenure has shown.
Podesta supported environmental policy during his tenure as White House chief of staff for Bill Clinton. Later, he advocated for climate action as the founder of the left-leaning Center for American Progress Research and as chairman of the board of directors of Climate Engineering.
Podesta also has experience leading unofficial "Track Two diplomacy" as an ordinary citizen, Kerry said, "which provides him with a solid foundation to tackle the global challenge of the climate crisis." This includes advancing actions related to the COP28 climate agreement signed in Dubai last December.
"He will bring significant expertise to the work ahead, particularly in terms of the practical challenges of implementing the COP28 agreement," Kerry said. Compiled by Liu Baiyun, Zhu Jie).
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