Energy experts bash John Kerry's UN deal to shut down fossil fuels

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U.S. energy experts heavily criticized the United Nations' sweeping agreement Wednesday to completely end fossil fuel reliance across the world, arguing that the pact would only serve to harm American national and energy security.

The agreement was announced during the U.N.'s now-concluded COP28 climate summit in Dubai, which was extended with an "overtime" period as delegates hammered out a deal with commitments related to future fossil fuel usage and other climate-related priorities. The so-called global stocktake represented the first U.N. agreement of its kind to include language calling for nations to transition "away from fossil fuels."

"While diplomats are fearmongering about projected minuscule temperature changes, billions of men, women and children around the world would rejoice at the opportunity to enjoy reliable electricity that fossil fuels provide," American Energy Institute CEO Jason Isaac told Fox News Digital. 

"Lunatics with the U.N. are inhumanely attempting to bribe countries into phasing out fossil fuels but [have] no realistic means for replacing the products and energy those hydrocarbons produce," he continued. "Meanwhile, the Biden administration turns a blind eye to Iranian oil sanction and the spigot is flowing right to China, which is now refining the products that move the world: diesel and jet fuel."

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Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, who led the U.S. delegation at the summit, applauded the agreement for delivering a significant piece of "climate action." (Mahmoud Khaled / COP28 via Getty Images)

Isaac added that the COP28 agreement ultimately "won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on" given the history of nations failing to meet other U.N. climate objectives and agreements.

Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, who led the U.S. delegation at the summit, applauded the agreement for delivering a significant piece of "climate action."

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"The United States supported this call for clearer language about the need to largely phase out fossil fuels, but we know this was a compromise between many parties. And that does not detract from its significance," Kerry remarked during a press conference Wednesday.

"This text also aligns with the decisions the marketplace has already made," he said. "The message coming out of this COP is that we are moving away from fossil fuels and we are not turning back."

Overall, the top-line goal of the agreement, which COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber characterized as a "historic achievement," is to ensure future carbon emissions reductions and limit global warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The world has already warmed about one degree above pre-industrial levels, according to the U.S.

The COP28 logo is pictured at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Nov. 30, 2023. The summit concluded Wednesday following the landmark agreement to phase away from fossil fuels. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

In addition to the pledge to phase out fossil fuels, it calls for a tripling of renewable energy capacity by 2030, includes a firm commitment to shutter coal-fired power generation, calls for greater proliferation of electric vehicles, endorses carbon capture technology and disavows fossil fuel subsidies.

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"Thankfully, the COP28 agreement is just the latest do-nothing agreement to come out of the U.N. climate meetings ... blah-blah-blah, as Greta Thunberg might say," Steve Milloy, a senior legal fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, told Fox News Digital. "After 28 U.N. climate meetings, emissions have increased 50% with no end in sight, per a pre-COP28 U.N. report."

"There are no enforceable commitments to cut emissions or fossil fuel use and no requirements for rich countries to pay poor countries for climate," Milloy added. "Next year, the COP29 circus will be held in Azerbaijan, another oil producing country. So, the climate farce will continue, as will fossil fuel use and emissions."

The United Nations agreement calls for nations to triple their renewable energy output while phasing down fossil fuel reliance in an effort to curb carbon emissions. (Getty Images)

Power the Future, which advocates for energy workers, noted recent headwinds facing green energy development in the U.S., pointing in particular to the recent cancellation of a major offshore wind project green-lit by the Biden administration and Ford Motor Co.'s decision this month to cut back on its electric vehicle production.

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"This joke of an agreement really only has two goals: Allow Joe Biden to continue his war on American energy and ensure these elitists have something to do before next year's COP29 exclusive junket," Power the Future founder and Executive Director Daniel Turner said. 

"These unelected bureaucrats can smile as they board their carbon-spewing private jets knowing feckless leaders like Joe Biden will continue to do their bidding in pursuit of a fanciful and misguided agenda," Turner added.