With the Russian invasion of Ukraine dragging on after more than a year, National Security Council member John Kerry sharply condemned the war—for increasing climate change.
Kerry, who serves on the council as President Joe Biden's special envoy for climate policy, told MSNBC on Monday that "bombs going off" in Ukraine are "exacerbating the problem" of climate change by causing "an enormous release of greenhouse gas, of methane." He went on to lament how "the loss of the gas that was coming into Europe from Russia" has caused countries to "reopen coal or keep some other form of dirty fuel available."
Kerry's comments come the week after Biden's decision to provide Ukraine with controversial cluster munitions, leading to pushback from other NATO countries and threats from Russia.
MSNBC host Ana Cabrera had asked Kerry, who was former president Barack Obama's secretary of state, to explain his assertion that the Ukraine war is worsening climate change. While Kerry said the fight in Ukraine is "enormously important," he emphasized the war's "ancillary impacts" on global warming.
The former secretary of state has made similar comments over the years. When Russia first invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Kerry lamented how the war would mean "you're going to lose people's focus" on the climate, the Washington Free Beacon reported.