John Kerry Calls Himself ‘Militant’ And Declares No Coal Plants Should Be ‘Permitted Anywhere In The World’

At COP28 in Dubai, UAE on Sunday, Biden administration climate envoy John Kerry told the gathered United Nations participants that he is becoming “more and more militant” about climate policy and that no coal power plants should be permitted “anywhere in the world” anymore.

The 28th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), or COP28, opened Health Day with a session that was opened with remarks by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and included a panel discussion featuring Kerry and others from partner nations.

Kerry said that “the climate crisis and the health crisis are one and the same” in his remarks, and that coal power plants “double the number of deaths” as compared to other forms of air pollution.

“Now, we don’t need that necessarily to tell us we ought to be transitioning out of coal. There shouldn’t be any more coal fired power plants permitted anywhere in the world,” said Kerry about giving permits for coal power plants. “That’s how you can do something for health. And the reality is that we’re not doing it.”

Kerry, who famously was part of a radical anti-war group in the Vietnam era, then said he can’t understand why those with authority aren’t doing more and described himself as “militant.”

“I find myself getting more and more militant because I do not understand how adults who are in positions of responsibility can be avoiding responsibility for taking away those things that are killing people on a daily basis,” he said.

Watch the clip above via COP28 UAE.