John Kerry visits MIT to discuss climate change

John Kerry, the country’s first climate envoy, visited his home state and warned against political divisiveness over impending climate change.

“This is a matter of physics and mathematics, not about our politics or ideology,” Kerry said at MIT Thursday. “But unfortunately, we are stuck in a place where ideology is getting in a way, where the polarization of our nation is preventing us from doing what we know we have to do. And history is going to judge us very harshly if we do not find a way through this thicket at this moment.“

Former Massachusetts Democratic Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry visited the Cambridge campus for the Climate Grand Challenges showcase event. After Kerry’s speech, MIT researchers discussed the climate crisis.

Kerry blamed global divisiveness for the climate change pause.

“You can’t talk to some of these people. I actually got a lot done with President Putin when I was there. We got chemical weapons out of Syria, we did the Iran nuclear agreement, we did the Paris agreement,” he said. “This is a very different moment and a very different person right now, and with Russians off the table for the time being, so that’s a problem.”

Despite the fact that the government will need to spend “trillions” to save the earth, he believes it will not be able to do it.

“When I stopped being Secretary of State, I left the job believing that it’s going to be the private sector and then solve it,” he said. “I still believe that the marketplace is going to be far more powerful in solving this than the government.”

He said several corporations are creating a deal to acquire green technology when it comes out as an example of an approach.

“The problem is it’s not happening fast enough,” he said. “And that’s where government comes in. Government can send the signals, the government can create the structure, and you can build around that and move much faster.“

Also Read

Climate change: Where do the major parties stand?

According to Vote Compass data, climate change was the top issue among...