On November 12, 1998, President Clinton signed the Kyoto Protocol, which required dramatic cuts to carbon dioxide emissions. It was an empty gesture, for a year earlier the Senate had voted 95-0 on a resolution stating that it would not ratify the treaty. And of course, it never did, and Americans would not have supported it.

Over the weekend, President Obama concluded the Paris climate talks with a similar empty gesture. Obama has no intention of sending this agreement up for ratification, as he should. Instead, he hopes to avoid calling it a treaty.