TNR’s Sacha Zimmerman has this dead-on take on Kerry’s newfound environmental consciousness:

In an effort perhaps to reestablish his relevance, John Kerry is back in the public eye with a new book he has written with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, This Moment On Earth. The book is all about the importance of taking care of our planet and responding to the environmental crises in our midst. While I am certainly a proponent of environmental activism, this sudden burst of “conviction” feels totally hollow. Watching Kerry discuss the book on television, one can’t help but think that Kerry saw Al Gore’s success with the issue and simply jumped on the bandwagon–as if to say, “Look America! I care about pollution, too! Love me! I said, love me!!”

That said, I’m sure his conviction is at least mostly genuine. After all, it would be terrible if global warming (or whatever) were to keep him from windsurfing.