In The Event Something Actually Happens In Paris, Don't Worry - Inhofe Will Save Us From A Treaty
The Senate's leading climate change skeptic said yesterday he does not believe Congress can prevent an international global warming accord but insisted that the United States will never live up to it. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), speaking after a hearing in which he and other GOP lawmakers questioned Obama's authority to enter into even a voluntary U.N. climate deal, said he expects to follow up with legislation. But, he acknowledged, there is probably not much congressional opponents of reducing carbon emissions can do to stop the Obama administration from signing onto the agreement expected in Paris this December.
"They're going to tell [the international community] that they don't need to have ratification. I can't stop him from doing that. But we can stop us from living with an agreement that we're not a part of," Inhofe said. His solution to meeting the U.S. pledge? "Just don't do it."
The hearing before Inhofe's Environment and Public Works Committee opens up the newest front in Republicans' Paris offensive. It comes as the Obama administration fends off riders from House appropriators aimed at blocking U.S. EPA from implementing regulations on new coal-fired power plants. The Clean Power Plan rules, which the administration insists it has the power to enact without congressional approval under the Clean Air Act, are at the heart of Obama's pledge to cut emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
While the rule has long been under attack in the courts and from some members of Congress, lawmakers yesterday focused on undermining the international community's trust in the Obama administration. Republicans repeatedly declared the U.S. climate goal unrealistic and Obama's authority to avoid Senate ratification and unilaterally seal a global deal -- even one that falls short of a full-blown treaty -- questionable.
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http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060021496
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