Let us not forget fat boy al gore
As well as, John P. Holdren, Obama’s “Science” and “Technology” Czar.
President Obama heads to Paris Monday seeking to clinch an international climate pact that would help define his legacy.
But major obstacles stand in the way of that goal, including the dispute over whether the document will be legally binding for all the countries participating or whether political pressure would be the main enforcement mechanism.
Obama is also facing pressure at home from Republicans who oppose his executive actions on climate change and want to derail the global deal organized under the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change.
For a president who has made climate change a top priority of his second term - and has become the first commander in chief to take significant action to counter global warming - the Paris meeting presents a rare opportunity to make significant headway in fighting climate change.
While domestic climate policies, like Obama's carbon dioxide limits for power plants, can only have a marginal impact on global temperatures, getting the rest of the world on board can make a real difference.
"Obama 2.0 looks very different from Obama 1.0 on climate change," said Timmons Roberts, an environmental studies professor at Brown University and fellow at the Brookings Institution.
"Obama has staked a lot on Paris being a success, as can be seen by the effort his White House has put into these bilateral agreements and commitments," Roberts said, referring to recent high-profile agreements on climate change that Obama has made with the leaders of China, Brazil, Mexico and other nations.
The China deal was particularly historic, as it was the first time the Asian power has promised to limit greenhouse gases. China agreed to peak its emissions by 2030, and in return, the United States promised a 26 percent to 28 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2025, compared with 2005 levels.
Obama has also made a point to insert climate change language into nearly every official diplomatic communication with a foreign leader in recent months.................."
.........A key disagreement in the GOP, however, is whether to simply deny Obama's request for money, or to block Obama from using other money for that purpose. The Senate has proposed to do the former, while House Republicans want to go farther.
Paul Bodnar, director for energy and climate change at Obama's National Security Council, said protecting the funding is a top concern of Obama.
"As we've made clear, the Green Climate Fund is a priority for the president," Bodnar said, adding that the White House is optimistic that it'll get the money it needs.
Republicans' other tactic against the deal is to try to show that Obama's commitment to reductions can't stand. For the most part, that means arguing that the carbon limits for power plants, the main pillar of the commitment, is on shaky legal and political ground, and will probably be overturned by a court or Congress.
To demonstrate that, the Senate voted recently to overturn the rule, and the House will take a similar vote next month, sending it to Obama's desk for his certain veto. Opponents have also filed a lawsuit against the rule.
Megan Mullin, an environmental politics professor at Duke University, said Obama needs to convince world leaders and negotiators in Paris that those moves by his opponents are simply messaging..............."