Comer Probes Special Presidential Envoy for Climate’s Collusion with Leftist Environmental Groups

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today is calling on U.S. Department of State Antony Blinken to provide documents and communications related to Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) John Kerry’s collusion with leftist environmental groups to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) and to undermine U.S. national and energy security. Documents obtained by the Committee reveal off-the-record email correspondence, calls, and meetings between leftist environmental groups, Envoy Kerry, the SPEC office, and the State Department, including PPCA discussions.

“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is continuing its investigation into the activities of the office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC). Documents produced to the Committee reveal that the State Department sought and received feedback from leftist environmental groups on the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) and enabled those groups to influence U.S. foreign policy. These documents raise significant concerns that confidential information related to U.S. foreign policy, energy policy, and national security policy, have been shared with these groups, including in off-the-record meetings with Envoy John Kerry. In light of these concerns, we request the State Department provide a staff-level briefing and additional documents and communications regarding the U.S. decision to join the PPCA,” wrote Chairman Comer.

At the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Envoy Kerry announced the U.S. joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a coalition of countries and organizations seeking to accelerate a phase-out of coal power generation. Since 2021, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee has made repeated requests about Envoy Kerry’s role in the Biden Administration but the Biden Administration only began producing documents and communications after Chairman Comer threatened the compulsory process. Thousands of documents since produced to the Oversight Committee contain off-the-record email correspondence, calls, and meetings between leftist environmental groups, Envoy Kerry, the SPEC office, and the State Department, including PPCA discussions.

“On March 2, 2021, the State Department solicited and received guidance from National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) regarding the PPCA. On April 6, 2021, leftist environmental groups including Sierra Club, E3G, NRDC, Solutions for Our Climate, and World Resources Institute submitted a memo to the State Department regarding the PPCA,” continued Chairman Comer. “Documents produced to the Committee also reveal the SPEC office and the State Department consult leftist environmental groups on the coal infrastructure of foreign countries […] These exchanges raise concerns as to what information Envoy Kerry and the SPEC office are providing to organizations like the NRDC in exchange for this information. The Committee is concerned that U.S. government officials providing similar nonpublic information to such groups could enable them to provide it to foreign governments for efforts undermining U.S. national and energy security.”

Read the letter to Secretary Blinken here.