Posted on 12/13/2015 9:53:52 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
President Barack Obama wants to be remembered as the president who saved the world from climate change. But the 195-nation accord aimed at curbing global warming may be the most fragile of his presidential achievements so far.
More than any of his other top accomplishments—economic recovery, health care reform, the Iran deal, all of which involved Congress to some extent—Obama’s environmental legacy rests on the exercise of executive power over the objections of Republican lawmakers.
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In announcing the deal from the White House, the president used pointed language to note that his administration laid the groundwork without help from Congress. He cited new limits on power plant emissions, investments in renewable technologies, and an agreement with China to do the same — all actions he took on his own.
"Today thanks to strong, principled American leadership," he said, we'll leave our children "a world that is safer and more secure, more prosperous and more free, and that is our most important mission in our short time here on this earth."
The reliance on presidential authorities means that while Obama can take much of the credit for the agreement, its ultimate success is in the hands of the next administration.
"The President is making promises he can’t keep, writing checks he can’t cash, and stepping over the middle class to take credit for an ‘agreement’ that is subject to being shredded in 13 months," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.
Key parts of the Paris pact are nonbinding, the only way Obama could avoid seeking approval of the deal in Congress, something he knew would be impossible. He learned that lesson in his first term, when cap-and-trade legislation failed on Capitol Hill, prompting the Environmental Protection Agency to develop its own set of greenhouse gas rules. Those regulations are now at the mercy of the courts, which will decide over the coming years whether the president overstepped his authority as president.
It’s a reminder that even as consensus grows among scientists and world leaders about climate change and what must be done to limit its consequences, the U.S. political system is not on board.
The global accord, which includes other major polluters like China and India, marks a particular political triumph for Obama over his Republican detractors, said a former top climate adviser.
“All their arguments are being broken down one by one, but they still haven’t been clued in that the rest of the world is moving,†said Heather Zichal, who left the White House in 2013.
Obama has boasted that America has cut its carbon emissions more than any other advanced nation even amid economic recovery, calling moves to pit the environment against the imperative to create jobs a “false choice.†In Paris, Zichal said, the administration made moot the argument that America shouldn’t act alone while others continue polluting. That will make it easier for other Democrats to run on green platforms, Zichal predicted.
“Nobody’s screaming that their energy bills are on fire, jobs have not been lost,†she said.
Obama’s unilateral moves did clear the path for Paris: The U.S. commitment to lower emissions is based on the new power plant emissions regulations imposed by the EPA earlier this year, and Obama cited the need to have credibility going into the talks as a key factor in his decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline last month.
And early in his presidency, Obama played a direct and personal role when he and Hillary Clinton, then his secretary of state, realized that the leaders of developing countries were suspiciously absent from sessions of an earlier U.N. conference in Copenhagen. According to Clinton's memoirs, they barged into a secret meeting called by the Chinese in an apparent effort to isolate the U.S., with Obama calling out "Mr. Premier!" to force Premier Wen Jiabao to include them in the discussion.
Then a year ago, Obama personally negotiated a deal with the Chinese that committed both countries to concrete emissions reductions, which was arguably the key step toward gaining the participation of the rest of the developing world. China’s credibility took a hit earlier this year when it revealed that its emissions were much higher than initially acknowledged in the bilateral deal with the U.S., off by a staggering 17 percent, but the revelation did not scuttle the larger deal.
Still, a number of U.S. disputes could tarnish or threaten the deal even before Obama leaves office.
As international negotiators were haggling over the fine print in Le Bourget, congressional aides in Washington were approaching a deal for the budget that is likely to end a 40-year ban on exporting American crude oil. The provision, enacted in response to the energy crisis of the 1970s, would have minimal impact on the climate. But the psychological defeat for greens puts the White House in an awkward position. That's because administration officials may want advocacy groups to be more vocal about their displeasure about the limits in the Paris deal, like limited financing for poor countries to move to clean energy, and a lack of hard commitments to keep temperatures from rising above 2 degrees Celsius. Island nations made a push to lower that goal to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“The threshold for climate leadership is clear: Binding inclusion of indigenous and human rights, significant finance for less developed nations, a 1.5 degree target, and a commitment to set stronger reduction targets in the coming years with greater domestic reductions now,†Rainforest Action Network director Lindsey Allen said in an email.
“So even though President Obama has brought a needed course correction from previous obstructionist administrations, let's be clear that a climate leader is one that uses their full leverage in the face of this global challenge. And Obama has yet to rise to that bar,†Allen added, calling on the president to bar oil drilling on public lands.
Other leading climate groups gave Obama more credit.
“Decisive leadership and action from President Obama and other world leaders, an increasingly powerful climate movement, and strong progress in the U.S. and globally to move off coal cleared the way for every nation to come to the table,†said Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune in a statement. “This historic international agreement is what the American people demanded, what future generations deserve, and what the world needs.â€
In his remarks at the White House, Obama acknowledged that "the problem's not solved because of this accord.“ However, he insisted that it "will help delay or avoid some of the worst consequences of climate change and will pave the way for even more progress in successive stages over the coming years.â€
"So I believe this moment can be a turning point for the world," Obama concluded. "We’ve shown that the world has both the will and the ability to take on this challenge."
He didn't complete the thought out loud, but he didn't need to: At least for now. At least until the next election cycle.
Yup. A “signal” from Hanoi Boi and his pal in the White House. Prosperity and freedom in America are now dead. The thieves and tyrants are running this chicken coop now.
From the article...
More than any of his other top accomplishments—economic recovery, health care reform, the Iran deal
If these are his accomplishments, we’re screwed
Economic recovery is one of the accomplishments of the Obama years??? Really??? Is she serious?????
Manbearpig’s days are numbered! Preezee whatshisname is on the job!
Communists are psychopathic liars.
What Fiction writer did Obama hire to write that LOAD OF BULL
June 4, 2008 "This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal."
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