Topline
The Government Accountability Office on Thursday said the State Department hasn’t created a system for tracking carbon emissions for travel despite a presidential order to do so and failed to estimate the carbon impact of John Kerry’s recent trips to two United Nations conferences.
US President Joe Biden boards Air Force One before departing from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland … [+]
Key Facts
State officials told the accountability office they “did not have a systematic way to calculate greenhouse gas emissions” for travel, a violation of a 2021 presidential order, nor is it able to calculate the emissions for the full delegation because each participant makes their own travel arrangements.
Federal agencies are required to track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aviation travel, and the State Department said it is developing methods to estimate future travel emissions, the report said.
The report released Thursday looked to discover the greenhouse gas emissions required for the U.S. delegation to travel to the United Nations Conference of the Parties in 2021 (COP26) and 2022 (COP27), which were held in Scotland and Egypt, respectively.
According to the State Department’s official list, 191 people traveled to Scotland as part of the U.S. Delegation, including President Joe Biden, and 259 people traveled to Egypt in 2022.
The report came after three Republican senators—Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.)—asked the GAO to disclose the total carbon footprint of a November trip to Egypt for COP27.
The Sate Department did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.
Key Background
A December 2021 executive order called “Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs through Federal Sustainability” calls for all federal agencies to track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions with a 2050 goal of achieving net-zero emissions. The executive order calls for agencies to reduce emissions in three different categories, and aviation emissions from federal employee travel are generally considered “scope 3,” the GAO said, which encompasses emissions from sources not owned or directly controlled by a federal agency, but related to its activities.
Chief Critic
Ernst, who led the push and told Fox News Biden is giving “lip service to greenies,” has spoken against Obama-era regulations on clean water and natural gas minimization, instead saying she supports an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy. Capito, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, told Fox “the same people who are closing down power plants across the country and forcing Americans to buy electric vehicles are also the ones flying to climate conferences and using fossil fuels without apology.”
Further Reading
State Department Did Not Track Greenhouse Gas Emissions from U.S. Delegation Travel to Meetings 26 and 27 of the United Nations Conference of the Parties (GAO)
Understanding Scope 1, 2 And 3 Emissions And The Need For Such Categorization (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/06/29/top-climate-officials-failed-to-track-emissions-violating-federal-order-watchdog-says/