Briefly: The CO2 regs on new permits were established in 2010, which resulted in a huge lawsuit, which SCOTUS ruled on in favor of Obama/EPA last June, about 6 weeks ago.
The CO2 regs on existing permits were established this past June. Two lawsuits have already been filed and likely more will be filed so it will have to go all the way back to SCOTUS.
The GOP made a decision on this(and many other issues) in 2009 and 2010. They thought that could delay this in court long enough that they could recapture both Congress and the presidency then implement what they wanted.
The GOP was able to recapture the House in 2010, but not the Senate. In 2012 they were not able to take the senate or the presidency. Now, the plan is to take the senate in 2014 and the presidency in 2016.
Yada, yada, yada. Blah, blah, blah. Trying to explain why Obama is trying to ram his climate crap down our and the world’s collective throats, still does not get around the fact that he is going to go at it unilaterally, without Congressional approval. He’s doing this because of his far-left ideological agenda, not because the country wants or needs it or the Senate would approve of it. He whines that Putin and Russia are going after Crimea and the Ukraine illegally, but then acts on his own illegally on his own pet issues.
The whole thing may be moot anyway because to get around the need for Senate ratification, he is not going after a full-blown treaty that would need their approval, but a “name and shame” approach to get offending countries to comply. Typical of the faculty lounge leftist, he thinks talk will get the people to come around to doing what he wants without any enforcement mechanism. This approach has failed for him and others before him, and will fail again.
The “why” he is going about this UN deal without Senate approval is not important. The fact that he’s is trying to unilaterally circumvent the law to do it, is important. This is a country of laws which, as a poor scholar of the constitution, he seems to have skipped class when that was being taught at Harvard. If he wants to rule by fiat, let him go somewhere else to do it, like Venezuela. I hear it may have an opening to replace the failed former bus driver dictator wannabe down there that Obama can apply for.