Secretary of State John Kerry and his advisers have emitted more than 35.4 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the environment during their ill-fated attempts to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, according to a Washington Free Beacon environmental impact study.
After taking six trips to the region since February, Kerry and his crew have expended almost twice the amount of carbon that the average American emits yearly, according to an analysis based on statistics from the U.S Energy Information Administration.
Kerry alone has produced 26,037.11 pounds of CO2 as he seeks to bring intransigent Palestinian leaders back to the bargaining table.
Kerry has claimed global warming is one of his chief priorities even as he repeatedly shuttles to the Middle East on a mission experts say is doomed to fail.
In addition to the impact Kerry’s trips have had on the environment, the trips have cost taxpayers upwards of $2,774,497, according to the Free Beacon’s analysis.
"We all wish the secretary well, but two things are perplexing. The first is why he is optimistic," said former George W. Bush administration national security adviser Elliott Abrams. "These are not new issues, neither Palestinian nor Israel positions have changed, and solutions on issues like Jerusalem seem as far away as ever."
"The second is why he is concentrating on this matter when Iran is edging toward a bomb, there's a bloodbath in Syria, and Egypt just had a coup," Abrams said. "This challenge has been around since 1967 and wouldn't seem like the top priority."
Yet Kerry has insisted on personally championing the issue, travelling between Washington, D.C., Cairo, Tel Aviv, and a host of other Middle Eastern cities.
The Free Beacon calculated the total miles Kerry travelled on each of the last six trips he’s taken to the Middle East in pursuit of peace. These miles were added and then multiplied by the average amount of carbon dioxide produced per person per each mile of the flight.
These estimates are based on average emissions per person on a commercial airliner, meaning that between Kerry, his advisers, and security personnel, the actual carbon footprint could be significantly higher.
From Feb. 24 to March 6, for instance, Kerry travelled from D.C. to Doha, Qatar, with stops in London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Ankara, and Cairo.
A total of 3,858.5 pounds of CO2 were emitted per passenger on this trip, according to the analysis.
From May 21 to June 2, Kerry travelled from D.C. to Paris, with stops in Muscat, Oman; Amman, Jordan; Tel Aviv; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
On this trip another 4,492 pounds of CO2 were emitted per passenger.
From March 19 through the 27th, Kerry flew from D.C. to Paris, with stops in Tel Aviv, Amman, Baghdad, and Kabul.
A total of 3,793.5 pounds of CO2 were released into the environment during the trip.
From June 21 to July 2, Kerry flew from D.C. to the Bandar Seri Bagawan in the Sultanate of Brunei with stops in Doha, New Delhi, Jeddah, Kuwait City, Amman, and Tel Aviv.
A total of 6,824.7 pounds of CO2 per passenger were emitted on this trip.
From April 6 to the 15th, Kerry flew from D.C. to Tokyo with stops in Istanbul, Tel Aviv, London, Seoul, and Beijing.
More than 5,586 pounds of CO2 per passenger were emitted on this trip.
Kerry left for Amman, Jordan, on July 15 on a trip that will last through August 1. Already, each passenger on the trip has omitted more than 1,482 pounds of CO2.
"Human activities" such as Kerry’s airplane travel "are altering the carbon cycle" in ways that could be dangerous, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Kerry himself has pushed nations such as India to do more about global warming.
"When the desert is creeping into East Africa, and ever more scarce resources push farmers and herders into deadly conflict … then this is a matter of shared security for all of us. … When the Himalayan glaciers are receding, threatening the very supply of water to almost a billion people, we all need to do better," Kerry said during a June stop in India, in which he urged greater U.S. and Indian action on the issue.
Kerry emitted more than 2,125 pounds of CO2 travelling to New Delhi for his global warming speech, according to the Free Beacon’s analysis.
As Kerry claims progress on the Middle East peace issue, the Palestinians continue to demand preconditions to the talks, a sticking point with Israel.
Palestinian leaders said on Thursday that they would not speak with Israel unless the Jewish state first releases terrorists currently being held in prison.
See a full-sized version of the graphic here.