The U.S. Ambassador to Canada says America 鈥渁bsolutely wants to have it both ways鈥� when it comes to fighting climate change while pursuing fossil fuel projects.
With just days to spare before a potential default crisis, the U.S. Senate passed a deal struck by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to suspend the country鈥檚 debt ceiling until 2025.
The move prevents a default that could have had cataclysmic knock-on effects for other countries and economies 鈥� including Canada 鈥� which together hold the United States鈥� $31.4 trillion debt.
But the deal sees both Republicans and Democrats make concessions, including a suite of conservative priorities, namely new rules that will make it easier for both fossil fuel and renewable energy projects to get licences.
Ambassador David Cohen told CTV鈥檚 Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday, that while his president considers climate change to be an 鈥渆xistential threat,鈥� quitting fossil fuels altogether is not realistic in the immediate short term, especially while energy security is part of the equation.
鈥淭he United States absolutely wants to have it both ways,鈥� he said. 鈥淐limate change is an existential threat. We have to move as quickly as we can to wean ourselves off fossil fuels to make our energy consumption cleaner.
鈥淏ut that does not mean that we can afford to turn off fossil fuels immediately,鈥� he added. 鈥淲e're going to be using fossil fuels for a very long time. We have to make the use of those fossil fuels cleaner and we have to focus on things that may, in addition to climate change, also be existential threats.鈥�
Cohen cited as an example the need for many countries 鈥� including the United States 鈥� to be less reliant on Russian oil and the energy of other 鈥渦nfriendly players.鈥�
鈥淐limate change, energy security, energy sufficiency is an incredibly complicated question. And it's not a one-size-fits-all approach in dealing with those issues,鈥� he said.
Cohen added the debt ceiling deal also includes a 鈥渂ig win for climate change,鈥� namely that Republican clawbacks to the Inflation Reduction Act 鈥� which offers billions of dollars in clean energy incentives south of the border 鈥� were not included in the final agreement.
Cohen said he 鈥渘ever doubted鈥� there would be a deal on the debt ceiling, because it was 鈥渢oo important.鈥�
鈥淒emocracy is about compromise, and it doesn't mean that you can walk into every complicated issue and have a prepackaged solution that's available,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou have to demonstrate a little bit of patience. Let the process work its way through.鈥�
COHEN 'NOT WORRIED' ABOUT REPUBLICAN PRIMARY RACE
Cohen also weighed in on the Republican primary race, with former vice-president Mike Pence and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie expected to throw their hats in the ring this week.
He said while he tries to 鈥渄o less鈥� politics in his current role as ambassador 鈥� and it鈥檚 therefore not his job to worry about specific presidential candidates 鈥� he has a 鈥渟upreme amount of confidence in the American voting public,鈥� and he鈥檚 鈥渟ort of not worried about anyone.鈥�
鈥淚 remind people that if you go back to the beginning of the of the election cycle in 2016, the absolute front runners were Jeb Bush and Rudy Giuliani,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淚f we were having this conversation then, you'd be asking what I think about Rudy Giuliani as a president. And for the record, having worked with Rudy Giuliani, I would have warned you, at least off the record, that he might be a bit of a lunatic.
鈥淏ut the point is, when it came time for the election, neither one of them was in the picture,鈥� he said.
