Republicans are downplaying Friday’s signing of a global climate deal by the administration, saying the U.S. could easily withdraw from the non-binding agreement with a new president in the Oval Office.
“Countries that have signed and ratified an agreement have the freedom to act in their best interest and withdraw,” a white paper issued Thursday by the GOP-controlled Senate Environment and Public Works Committee reads.
It cites Canada’s withdrawal from a previous climate agreement signed in Kyoto, Japan under former President Bill Clinton as a prime example.
“For example, Canada who signed Kyoto in 1997 and ratified it in 2002 withdrew in 2011 — even in the midst of the first commitment period,” the paper reads.
Likewise, last December’s climate deal agreed to in Paris offers very little in the way of staying power, and offers more “hype” than anything else, said committee chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., commenting on the paper’s release.
“It is amazing how little has changed over time,” he said. “The Paris agreement, like the Kyoto agreement, is full of empty promises that will have no meaningful impact on the climate.”
He says the problem with international climate agreement is they fundamentally ignore basic economics and political realities. This is why the Paris deal is “doomed to failure,” he says.
“When the hype over the signing fades, the reality will set in that the policies President Obama is promising will not last,” Inhofe says. “President Obama is simply using this so-called ‘historic’ success to cement his legacy with environmental activists shortly before his term is up.”
Secretary of State John Kerry will join with over 150 countries Friday in signing the Paris climate accord as the next step in implementing the agreement among 196 countries to move ahead with efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the middle of the century.
The signing will take place at United Nations headquarters in New York, which slated the event for Earth Day. Several government agencies will hold events celebrating what has become the preeminent day for promoting environmental awareness and activism.
But the signing, although important for the deal to move ahead, only symbolizes countries’ intent to meet the obligations cited under the deal. It does not demonstrate that they ultimately will, a senior State Department official explained earlier this week on a call with reporters.
After the signing, countries will have a year to commit to “join” the Paris agreement, which means they take on the obligations of the deal, the official said. Although Kerry will sign the agreement, President Obama will have to officially join the climate agreement before it can take effect for the United States.
The State Department must finalize a document called an executive agreement before that can occur, the official said.
The agreement, once successfully implemented, would also allow any country to withdraw from the agreement if they choose to do so, the official said.
