(Daily Caller News Foundation) President Joe Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, said during a Tuesday speech that the world cannot stop the “climate crisis” without “dramatically” reducing investment in fossil fuels, contradicting the president’s previous call for increased investment in the oil and gas industry.
Biden told oil and gas producers to use their “record profits” to increase production and refining capacity during a speech he gave on Oct. 19.
Kerry said that the world cannot hit its emissions reduction targets unless private companies, governments and international banks divest from oil and gas, claiming that for every $1 that is invested in green energy, $1.10 is invested in fossil fuels.
“The math and science unequivocally make clear, we just can’t hit our [emissions] targets unless we dramatically change that ratio,” Kerry stated.
Kerry said that some private financial firms were beginning to backslide on the “net-zero” emissions, commitments they made at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference and urged firms to ramp up their efforts to invest in green energy instead of fossil fuels.
However, Biden told oil companies to increase production in order to bring down high gas prices and energy costs for Americans, a move that would require increased investment in the industry.
“You’re sitting on record profits … and we’re giving you more certainty, so you can act now to increase oil production now,” Biden said after announcing his administration’s plan to buy back oil from companies to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
