Former Secretary of State John Kerry has a much friendlier relationship with National Public Radio than current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had a nasty spat in his interview with evening anchor Mary Louise Kelly back in January. Their diplomatic correspondent Michelle Kelemen was still trashing Pompeo's "partisan" legacy on Monday's All Things Considered....and then again on Thursday night.
On Thursday morning, Morning Edition anchor Steve Inskeep brought a bucket of socialist softballs to Biden's "climate" czar, under the supportive headline As Climate Envoy, Kerry To Seek 'Ambition' With 'Humility'. The sound of state-run radio is back, as Inskeep announced Kerry is "hoping to resume work that was disrupted under President Trump."
STEVE INSKEEP: Is this going to be a problem, though, when you're negotiating with other countries in coming months? They will look at you, and they can say, Secretary Kerry, we know that you agree with climate science and that you want to do something, but you're part of an administration that we can only be sure will be there for four years. And who knows what happens after that with the United States?
JOHN KERRY: Well, that question will certainly be raised. But I think there's a very clear answer to it. First of all, I believe that Donald Trump is an aberration and more - a lot more, but I won't go into all of that. What is clear is that the marketplace itself, globally, is moving in this direction....Real business people, real leaders within the business world understand that this is an imperative.
Inskeep spent the whole seven minutes being upset that climate "deniers" were going to ruin America's progress on "ending fossil fuels" and Green New Deals and other "solutions." Inskeep asked about some kind of climate-change competition with China, and then asked "Will the United States have to make dramatic progress domestically against climate change in order to be a leader globally?" Kerry said "We will have to do our fair share. Absolutely."
There was no time to assess how the Obama-Biden team policy did on energy policy (Solyndra bankruptcy, anyone?) At the end, Inskeep again raised the people who fail to "agree with climate science" and how that inhibits "progress."
STEVE INSKEEP: I'd like to ask about this particular democracy that we're living in, Mr. Secretary, and how you address a long-term problem like climate change in this democracy. There is a minority of people that doesn't agree with climate science. And we're in a country where a minority of people can stop a lot of what you would see as progress. Do you feel that you understand how to make progress given the unique challenges in this country?
JOHN KERRY: I believe the way we make progress is by delivering, by showing people very specifically what the benefits are, what the facts are and by building a consensus. I mean, that is the process of a democracy. It's been made harder in these last years because of denialism that has been exacerbated purposefully by entities and by politicians. But I do believe the marketplace actually has the ability to be a very powerful force for good and for things to happen. And politicians can kind of get in the way and provide some road bumps, but they're not going to stop what's happening now.
STEVE INSKEEP: Secretary Kerry, it's always a pleasure talking with you. Thank you so much.
There's a reason why President Trump never gave an interview to NPR. You can hear it every day.
