There are few more unattractive public figures than John Kerry (although I've been told that, in private settings, Kerry can be quite charming).  He probably would have been as bad a president as either Obama or Biden (although Biden's really in a class by himself) if he'd been elected in 2004.  Currently, Kerry is the climate czar, and, in that capacity, when he appeared on BBC Arabic on Monday, after expressing a pro-forma concern about a potential war, he focused on the real point: his concern that Russia attacking a neighboring country into oblivion might make Putin forget his green energy obligations.  War, you know, is a polluting business.

As noted, the interview was recorded on Monday, although with horribly bad timing, it first aired on Wednesday.  Here's the bit in which, after making noises about the poor Ukrainians, Kerry shifts to the really important (to him) stuff:

Image: John Kerry.  MEMRI TV video.

I'm very concerned about, I'm concerned about Ukraine because of the people of Ukraine and because of the principles that are at risk, in terms of international law and trying to change boundaries of international law by force. I thought we lived in a world that had said no to that kind of activity. And I hope diplomacy will win.

But massive emissions consequences to the war but equally importantly, you're going to lose people's focus, you're going to lose big country attention because they will be diverted and I think it could have a damaging impact. So, you know hopefully President Putin would realize that in the Northern part of his country, they used to live on 66% of the nation that was over frozen land.

Now it's thawing, and his infrastructure is at risk. And the people of Russia are at risk. And so I hope President Putin will help us to stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate.

I admit that I actually have a sneaking admiration at this moment for John Kerry.  How often is a man so committed to his job that he's unafraid to look like a blithering idiot to keep the world's focus on his work?  However, if Kerry had any sense, he would have stopped his answer after that first paragraph about his concerns for the people of Ukraine.  He could have said something along the lines of, "The climate is important but, for now, the focus needs to be on preventing any conflict."  But Kerry, tin-eared as ever, just couldn't do that.

Of course, as with everything and everyone from the Biden administration, Kerry's concerns are an ideological Potemkin village.  A man who, with his wife, used to own a yacht and currently shares with her a private jet, five houses, and uncounted cars, isn't concerned with the climate at all.  He's just concerned about keeping a very big distance between the unwashed masses and himself.  And if those unwashed masses are prevented from traveling because they can't afford to put gas in their cars, that's all the better for him.