U.N. pick diverges from Trump’s climate stance
President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the next ambassador to the United Nations publicly broke with him on climate change Wednesday, stating at her Senate confirmation hearing that she believes fossil fuels and human behavior contribute to the planet’s shifting weather phenomena — but stopping short of endorsing a return to international pacts like the Paris climate agreement.
Kelly Knight Craft, currently the U.S. ambassador to Canada, stressed to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that “human behavior has contributed to the change in climate, let there be no doubt.”
“I also understand that fossil fuels have played a part in climate change,” she later added.
But Craft rejected urging the United States to make a return to the Paris agreement, warning that such pacts could “imperil” American jobs.
“We don’t feel like we have to be part of an agreement to be leaders,” she told senators, also arguing that the United States’ withdrawal from the agreement was legitimate because “we expected other countries to step up and while they did commit, they really were not serious.”
Democrats had voiced concerns about how Craft would address climate change because of her family’s investments in the fossil-fuel industry. Craft pledged to the panel Wednesday that she would recuse herself from any negotiations or meetings related to coal and potentially fossil fuels, promising to follow whatever ethics guidance she was given on oil and gas matters as well.
“Where coal is part of the conversation within climate change at the U.N., I will recuse myself,” Craft told Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., during the hearing. “If our ethics agreement called for me to recuse myself, absolutely, I will be in full compliance, I give you my word,” she said.
Craft pledged to senators that if confirmed, she would focus on promoting the value of humanitarian aid and “miss no opportunity” to use the United States’ seat on the U.N. Security Council to hold adversary nations like China and Russia to account for human-rights violations.
She also spoke of her responsibility as U.N. ambassador to advocate for the oppressed and persecuted, noting the civil wars in Yemen and Syria, the economic crisis in Venezuela, and the “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya people in Burma.
But Craft refused to cross Trump on specific policy positions, including the administration’s decision to reduce its payment to the international organization and pull out of key bodies, such as the U.N. Human Rights Council.
“[The U.N.’s] ambitions at times have gotten ahead of accountability. Waste and overlap remain problems,” Craft said, arguing that the Trump administration had had “many recent successes at the U.N.” that she was “eager to build on.”
In one exchange with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who opposes the president’s cuts in humanitarian aid, Craft argued that it was the responsibility of other nations to fill the budget shortfalls created by the United States pulling back its support — an argument that echoes Trump talking points on other alliances, such as defense cooperation with NATO.
“We are asking for people to step up and share this burden,” Craft told Graham, when he asked her about the president’s budget.
“Is the world safe enough for us to step down?” Graham asked.
“No, sir, we are leaders within the United Nations and we are leaders around the world,” Craft answered, prompting Graham to retort: “Let’s show it.”
Otherwise, Republicans and Democrats made very different demands of Craft and the approach she should take to other U.N. members, if confirmed.
“It is important that the U.S. continue to pressure the United Nations to spend its money efficiently and effectively,” panel chairman Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, said, endorsing the Trump administration’s approach. “While the United States benefits from being a member of the U.N., the United Nations benefits more, much more, from the United States being a member.”
The committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, stressed that Craft would need to commit to “reforming and strengthening the United Nations, not irreparably damaging it.”
“I have deep reservations about your lack of qualifications for such a complex and challenging role,” Menendez said.
Several Republican senators defended Craft.
“You prioritized the top priority of this administration,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said.
Craft also promised to “support the president’s vision for peace and security” in the Middle East — but when asked directly by Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del., if Trump’s vision for the Middle East included a two-state solution for Israel and Palestinian territories, she demurred.
“I have not been part of the Middle East peace process,” she said. “But if confirmed, I will tell you there will be no stronger friend than Kelly Craft and the United States for Israel and no stronger person to promote Israel in normalizing themselves in the system.”