NICK POPE
CONTRIBUTOR
President Joe Biden will pick a Democratic Party insider to replace the outgoing Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, according to The Washington Post.
John Podesta, who currently works in the White House as a senior adviser to the president, will take the reins from Kerry as the face of the Biden administration’s international climate diplomacy efforts when Kerry walks away from his role later this spring, the Post reported Wednesday. Podesta, who maintained ties with a Chinese government influence operative for more than a decade, has wielded significant influence within the Democratic Party apparatus since the Clinton administration. (RELATED: White House Rewards Eco-Activists That Harassed Biden Admin Officials, Dems For Months With Podesta Meeting)
Negotiating with China — the world’s second-largest economy and by far its leading emitter — will be a key aspect of Podesta’s work, as it was for Kerry. Notably, Podesta has cooperated in the past with known Chinese influence operative Tung Chee-hwa and his Chinese Communist Party-backed organization, the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), sitting on the CUSEF’s 2022 steering committee and writing three articles for CUSEF’s website since 2011, a 2022 Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found.
Tung is “clearly associated” with the CCP’s United Front Work Department (UFWD), according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The UFWD engages in propaganda efforts, espionage and violence, according to the State Department. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Podesta Didn’t Register As A ‘Foreign Agent’ When He Represented A Bank With Ties To Russian Spy Agencies)
Moreover, John Podesta’s brother Tony previously lobbied for blacklisted Chinese tech giant Huawei in 2021, earning $1 million in the process. The Trump administration blacklisted in May 2019 over concerns that its technology was being used for economic espionage.
Do you trust Podesta? https://t.co/jFIRcp3qnb
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 17, 2023
That arrangement may be deliberate, as the 2022 defense policy bill required special envoys representing the State Department to go through the confirmation process, according to the Post. That particular provision did not apply to Kerry when he took the job, and White House lawyers reportedly think that Podesta will not have to navigate the confirmation process, either.
Reports surfaced earlier in January stating that Kerry will give up his role as the administration’s top climate diplomat to assist Biden’s reelection efforts. When Podesta takes over under the official title of “senior adviser to the president for international climate policy,” he will operate out of the White House instead of the State Department, which was home to Kerry and his staff, according to the Post.
Before working for Biden to implement many billions of dollars of climate spending from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Podesta served former President Bill Clinton’s administration as White House chief of staff, worked as a counselor to former President Barack Obama and chaired Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 presidential campaign. Podesta also founded the Center for American Progress, a major liberal think tank in Washington, D.C.
During the Obama years, Podesta played a key role in negotiating the Paris Climate Accords of 2016, according to the Post. (RELATED: John Podesta Met With Fusion GPS Founder After Trump Dossier Was Published)
Podesta will reportedly continue working on domestic green energy implementation in addition to the new role, according to the Post.
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients credited Kerry for “tirelessly [trekking] around the world” and “bringing American climate leadership back from the brink and marshalling countries around the world to take historic action to confront the climate crisis” in a statement, according to the Post. “We need to keep meeting the gravity of this moment, and there is no one better than John Podesta to make sure we do … Having served the three most recent Democratic Presidents over three decades, he is an American statesman, a fierce champion for bold climate action, and a leader who without a doubt the world will know has the trust of and speaks for the President of the United States.”
The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
This article has been updated to include additional information about Podesta’s relationship with Chinese entities.
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“”…tirelessly [trekking] around the world…””
Nice work if you can get it – don’t forget the fine dining and digs etc And as Kerry put it –
“”When you start to think about it, it’s pretty extraordinary that we — select group of human beings because of whatever touched us at some point in our lives — are able to sit in a room and come together and actually talk about saving the planet,””
Ever so humble…
Plus Kerry served in Vietnam–although he eschewed his medals.
Two purple hearts
https://youtu.be/z8Q-sRdV7SY?si=NEr6VL6TFAlzwI-f
One for a cut on a finger requiring a bandaid.
thanks for that – very funny
From the distant memory vault!
And he shot himself to get one of those medals and to stay out of combat.
Kerry was up the Mekong back in 2017
https://www.primvietnam.com/about-us
https://www.flickr.com/photos/statephotos/31494424933
John Rockhold was a shipmate of mine.
He did not eschew the medals. He worked very hard to get them, even exaggerating a bit on his qualifications. When he thought it was advantageous to his political career, he either threw them over a fence in a pointless gesture or mimed doing that. 30 years later when he thought it was advantageous to his political career he ran for President as a decorated war veteran.
Dude’s a total sleazeball.
“Dude’s a total sleazeball.”
That and worse. No redeeming qualities.
And Podesta is even worse. Can you say “Swamp Critter”? He’s one of the most dangerous Democrat operatives around. He’s been undermining Democracy for many years and still going strong.
Seems he found them later.
Kerry sat at King Charles’ coronation, wearing medals he’d thrown away decades ago.
Total sleazeball and scumbucket too.
I’ve seen him in Congressional hearings- extremely arrogant. Like when he pretended to not own a private jet- he had to admit his wife owned one. I don’t mind people people much smarter, braver, and better looking than me- but I sure detest that kind of arrogance- and of course his hypocrisy.
I believe Podesta’s brother was in “business” with Trump’s pal Manafort yet somehow avoided the same legal consequences. So Tony was playing the CCP as well as the Putin cabal.
It really is a useless position as we have zero leverage over Xi. Since western financial entities like banks, the IMF and World Bank won’t finance any FF projects in poor countries Xi has the coal burning playing field to his lonesome. And as we all know Xi will only build state of the art efficienct and pollution controlled plants (lolol). The total and utter incompetence combined with the naked Grift that permeates this ruling cabal is so much worse than even a cynic such as myself imagined when Bribem got installed. It’s historical how widespread it is.
Climate cooking seems to be up Podesta’s alley.
Is pizza his speciality? 😂
Is the headline picture, Biden telling us how great EVs are whilst standing in front of an EV parking lot?
re: “You’ll Never Guess Who Biden Just Picked to Replace John Kerry as Top Climate Diplomat”
Um, that would be ‘The Worm‘, AKA John Podesta.
I read…
“”Podesta will remain in the White House, rather than move to the state department, with his role officially being international climate policy adviser to the president, rather than climate envoy, in order to sidestep a potentially fraught Senate confirmation process.””
https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/01/john-podesta-biden-us-climate-diplomat
Even if the U.S. Senate doesn’t need to confirm Podesta, I imagine the Republican House of Representatives is going to be questioning his budget. They were going to question Kerry about his budget, but it looks like Kerry is getting out before that will happen, but I expect it to carry over to Podesta’s appointment.
But Pod-boy has the answer for any questioning.
Its name is ARKANSAS ALZHEIMER’S
Number of times that Clinton figures who testified in court or before Congress said that they didn’t remember, didn’t know, or something similar.
Harold Ickes 148
Mark Gearan 221
Mack McLarty 233
Neil Egglseston 250
Hillary Clinton 250
John Podesta 264
And it is not just China.
FROM RUSSIA WITH MONEY
A Putin-‑connected Russian government fund transferred $35 million to a small company with Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta on its executive board, which included senior Russian officials.
John Podesta failed to reveal, as required by law on his federal financial disclosures, his membership on the board of this offshore company.
Podesta also headed up a think tank which wrote favorably about the Russian reset while apparently receiving millions from Kremlin–‐‑linked Russian oligarchs via an offshore LLC.
I just heard a report on BBC R4 on the French farmers’ siege of Paris
Apparently, they’re miffed by unfair competition from abroad –
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-68126373
Net zero doesn’t get a mention
In Belgium the police fired rubber bullets at the farmers:
Water cannon are illegal in Brexit Britain – except for Northern Ireland
Biting the hands that feed them isn’t enough? Now the ingrates are shooting the farmers?
“Falling incomes” includes especially boosting petrol and diesel taxes on farm use to the same level as road use. So the farmers take their tractors on the roads to protest! LOL
“Net zero doesn’t get a mention” The BBC would never report anything critical of Net Zero or indeed, of “climate change” in general since they’re the biggest purveyors of the illusion in the UK and beyond.
Unfair competition is one thing but the EU is allowing Ukraine to sell its produce within the EU without paying any tax or import duty whatsoever. That’s not just unfair competition that’s downright insulting.
The kakistocracy presents its most obvious side when maundering about “climate.” (I put “climate” in parentheses because what kakistocrats are really doing is complaining about “weather,” using it to stoke a moral panic, and to indulge in endless pretense, hypocrisy and sham.)
Ah yes, send an “envoy” to beg China to stop producing the goods the world can’t live without, in order to change the weather 100 years from now, and revert to some imagined better climate of the past. . . as if ANYONE knows how to do ANY of these things.
The Potemkin Village Juggernaut rolls onward, ever onward. . .
2024 is the year that Joke Biden will be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and defeated in election. The Penn-Biden Center is a racket funded by China for demrat Joke Biden and his cronies. Hunter Biden is the bag man for the Bideno Crime Family. What a sordid massive criminal enterprise that must be cleaned up!……the border crisis alone is enough prosecute Joke.
Story tip
Wind Farms Are Overstating Their Output — And Consumers Are Paying For It
https://apple.news/AQFrXghWDRx-H3po_uQIupQ
from Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-02/uk-government-minister-condemns-energy-firms-for-overstating-wind-farm-output?leadSource=uverify%20wall
also on the net zero watch
Which one has the largest carbon footprint? “Pest-uh”…..or Kerry? Joke Biden has the largest but likes to appoint others of his type.
How much Jet-A has Creepy Joe Brandon wasted flying in a huge 747 between the DC swamp and Delaware 3-4 times each week?
Story tip – Early testing shows EVs smash through guardrails like bulldozers – American Thinker
Unintended consequences.
The modern day version of Joseph Goebbels
I wonder if today’s level of government propaganda would make Goebbels blush.
The 3 hour pizzas might though
It would make Goebbels envious.
So many foxes in the coop there is no room for chickens.
Rabid foxes
I’m sure China, world’s most prolific fossil fuel user, viewed Kerry as a useful idiot and will give Podesta the same attention. In business when you wanted to give someone a job with a title but no respect you ‘promoted’ them to oversee and talk up the company’s efforts in Zero Defects. Not that zero defects is a bad but they always made it a religion instead of a goal. China will welcome Podesta with the same open arms.
Did anyone on Earth think Baked Potato Joe would make a good choice?
John “three hour pizza” Podesta.
Sick, sick individual.
Xi and his mates will know about this wonder if they will set a baited “pizza”trap
The Chicoms own John Podesta (and the Democrats). Podesta has been doing dirty deals with the Chicoms for decades. The Chicoms know where all the bodies are buried.
John Kerry “tirelessly trekked around the world” to deliver the message of impending doom about CO2 accumulating in the atmosphere. The result of all his effort was a continuous rise in the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.In other words, he was still a loser.
John Podesta is already a known national management loser. Therefore, It must make good sense to appoint a loser to the losing proposition of being a “Climate Czar”.
He replaced the moron with the village idiot. Hackerama all the way down.
What’s the diff? Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb . . . we still have the best bureaucrats that can be bought off, no matter how many times they are recycled.
If Joe wanted an experienced bag man, he picked one of the best.
Bonus fact: Podesta was the op who got spear phished by Russian hackers during the 2016 campaign. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podesta_emails
“If Joe wanted an experienced bag man, he picked one of the best.”
That’s right. Podesta is a dangerous, political operative. Dangerous to our Republic. He has been trying to undermine it for years.
Sorry Walter but that ‘spear-phishing’ story is pure BS to cover Podesta’s ass. It wasn’t Russian hackers but American journalists and it wasn’t a ‘spear-phishing’ attempt, the stupid fool’s password was ‘password’ – when journalists found this out they had a field day looking through his stuff. It’s widely known that Democrats around that time were not tech savvy and had next to no cyber security systems set up. This changed after the Democrat mainframe was compromised from the inside and Podesta’s phone was also compromised – both of which they have conveniently blamed on Russian hackers as it’s better than saying you effed up.
TIP TIP
I just posted this on Jo Novo, but for you … here is the great news from WA State:
From the KOMO news online:
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Nearly 5,000 new electric vehicle charging stations are coming to more than 500 sites statewide.
Gov. Jay Inslee’s left coast state: $85 million in funding marks the first phase of investments through the Washington Electric Vehicle Charging Program, with support from the Climate Commitment Act. In total, 4,710 level 2 EV chargers with 5,362 individual charging plugs and 271 direct current fast chargers with 420 plugs …
Half the grants will go toward installing chargers in communities most at risk of negative health effects caused by fossil fuel pollution.
About the last sentence: Washington electricity is almost all from water power and a single nuclear plant, plus a bit of thermal. And, it seems half of the units will be installed in communities whose citizens can’t afford an EV.
Lesson #97 in how to waste money.
“in communities whose citizens can’t afford an EV.”
In a couple years when the tsunami of used BEVs hits, and dealers are giving them away because a BEV without a battery warranty is worthless, they will be very popular in those communities. Just wait till the kids find out what a spectacular show a burning BEV makes.
They’ll be buying a new one every July 1st.
“..negative health effects caused by fossil fuel pollution.”
I don’t understand:
The first task of any special envoy for climate should be to bring all scientific evidence forward for public inspection to assure the nation that climate action is needed. No evidence, no job.
It figures that Biden would install a Kerry clone as a replacement. Such action merely clears the way for China, India and the other big emitters to increase their fossil fuel consumption while reminding the environmentalists that economic growth and poverty alleviation take precedence over any long-shot efforts to prevent the so-called “climate crisis” from spiraling out of control.