Negotiating American Energy Independence

September 4, 2024

White House climate envoy John Podesta is set to meet today in Beijing with his Chinese Communist Party (CCP) counterparts to discuss “mutual commitments to climate change.” This follows last week’s meeting where National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan trekked around the world to meet with President Xi Jinping and only secured broad and partial commitments for a call with Biden. Now, Podesta is on a mission of his own to hold talks on climate change.

Not only has China time and time again refused to stay true to its climate commitments. But the Biden-Harris administration is pushing its own “energy transition” away from reliable and affordable oil and gas, resources the U.S. has in abundance along with a skilled workforce. Instead, the administration is pushing “green” technologies that require minerals mined and processed overwhelmingly in China. This means that the current administration’s official policy is to hand over the keys of global energy dominance to China and make the American people dependent on the CCP, the world’s top emitter of greenhouse gasses.

Over the past ten years, the United States has led the way in emissions reductions, decreasing CO2 emissions by 15% since 2015, while still increasing its petroleum production nearly threefold. In the same timeframe, China has almost doubled its CO2 emissions while still opening about two coal plants per week. Somehow, Podesta believes that China can engage in good faith on greenhouse gas reduction.

As the Daily Caller reports, 

“Podesta and China’s special envoy for climate change Liu Zhenmin are slated to meet during the first week of September to discuss reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing funding for climate initiatives in developing nations, according to the outlet. The talks follow efforts to Trump-proof environmental collaboration efforts between the two nations and come despite China continuing to hike coal production.”

These climate initiatives, as the Daily Caller reports, are designed to help developing nations, which still includes China. What the State Department routinely fails to mention is that China is no longer an emerging market but rather the second largest economy in the world, moving global markets, impacting supply chains in nearly every industry, and is hardly in need of assistance.

Instead of meeting with Chinese officials and risking selling out our energy competitive advantage, Podesta could better serve American (and global) interests by staying home and supporting our domestic energy industry.