House Democrats rebuked President Trump for rejecting the Paris Agreement Thursday, passing a bill that would bar him from taking the U.S. out of the landmark international climate change accord.
Democrats provided almost all of the votes for the bill, with none of them opposing it. Only three House Republicans backed it: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Elise Stefanik of New York, and Vern Buchanan of Florida. Democrats said the legislation, which passed by a 231-190 margin, is the first major climate change bill approved by the House in a decade.
“This is an attempt to try to get us back on the right track,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the chairman of the Rules Committee, in comments on the House floor ahead of the vote. “It’s time to come together and tell the president who doesn’t believe in science that the science is real and it’s time we do something. The cost of climate inaction will far exceed the cost of acting now.”
Republicans accused Democrats of widening divisions between the parties on climate change by forcing a “show” vote on a bill that won’t be considered by the GOP-controlled Senate and would be vetoed by Trump.
“Part of their movement right now is to put some wins on the board in the House that have no chance in the Senate,” Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., told the Washington Examiner. “The president is not going to sign a bill that says ‘I’m going to force myself to do something I don’t want to do.’ But we [spent] a week of our time doing this, really for nothing.“
Democratic boosters of the bill say it’s an important first step to showcase the priority they’re placing on combating climate change ahead of the 2020 election, and to contrast their approach with that of Trump and congressional Republicans.
The legislation prevents the use of federal funds to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
The U.S. cannot formally exit from the Paris Agreement until the 2020 presidential election year under the United Nations’ rules for withdrawal.
The bill also requires the president to submit a plan for meeting the current U.S. pledge set in 2015 by President Barack Obama to cut greenhouse gas emissions 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025.
Reaching that level would help the world achieve the overarching goal of the Paris Agreement, limiting global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature at which many scientists say the world would see irreversible effects of climate change.
Climate experts say the U.S. is far away from reaching that goal, despite more than 20 governors, under the umbrella of the “U.S. Climate Alliance,” vowing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris accord.
To reach the target level, the U.S. would need to both increase the pace of carbon emissions reduction in the power sector, and also cut pollution from transportation, which has proven to be a more difficult task.
All countries of the world except the U.S. under the Trump administration have committed to the Paris Agreement, under which nations set their own nonbinding targets for reducing carbon emissions. The U.S., Republicans note, has reduced emissions more than any other country since 2000. But the U.S. started from a large base and leads the world in cumulative emissions over time. U.S. emissions also rose in 2018.
“The U.S. has a unique role in fighting climate change because we have played a major role in furthering this crisis,” McGovern said. “I don’t think we would be turning our backs on a problem we helped create.”
Trump and most House Republicans argue the U.S. committed too much compared with other high-emitting countries such as China.
“We need a climate agreement which holds countries accountable and requires them to pay their fair share,” said Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y.
But Democrats, along with Fitzpatrick — one of the Republicans backing the bill — said the U.S. risked ceding leadership in influencing other countries to combat climate change.
“Climate change must be addressed proactively with leaders from both sides of the aisle working to protect our planet,” Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent who is a leader of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Every nation will be affected by climate change which is why nearly every country agreed to work to reduce carbon emissions in the Paris Climate Accords.”
