The State Department failed to record carbon emissions generated by flights carrying federal diplomats to United Nations (UN) climate conferences in 2021 and 2022, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The independent government watchdog’s findings indicate that Biden administration officials did not abide by President Joe Biden’s 2021 executive order requiring federal agencies to keep track of the greenhouse gas emissions their official activities produce, as first reported by Politico. The flights in question transported 191 officials to the UN COP26 and 259 officials to COP27 conferences, including Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, to address international plans to combat climate change, according to the GAO report.
Republican Sens. Shelley Capito of West Virginia, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Joni Ernst of Iowa requested the GAO report on the matter, according to Politico.
“The gas is always greener when you’re burning fossil fuels in the name of saving the planet,” Ernst said of the report’s findings in a statement to Politico. “While giving lip service to greenies, Biden bureaucrats are blatantly emitting the greenhouse gases they demonize.”
The State Department could not follow Biden’s directive because it had yet to develop final methods for doing so, the GAO report found. Standard commercial flights list their average carbon emissions on Google searches.
John Kerry defends his use of a private jet in order to travel to Iceland and collect a climate award:
“It’s the only choice for somebody like me who is traveling the world to win this battle…”
pic.twitter.com/oSvjZB77oB— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 3, 2021
Republished with permission from Daily Caller News Foundation
