Free Republic

A sweeping global agreement to combat climate change by shifting the world economy away from fossil fuels will take force next month after passing a threshold for ratification on Wednesday with support from European nations. President Obama, speaking from the Rose Garden, called the "Paris Agreement" potentially a "turning point" for our planet. "This gives us the best possible shot to save the one planet we've got," Obama said. Addressing climate change has been a core goal for the president and netting the Paris climate deal is considered a critical part of his environmental policy legacy. "One the reasons I...

The White House on Monday defended President Obama’s decision to enter into the Paris climate accord without Senate ratification but stopped short of confirming a Chinese report that he will do so this week during his trip to China. Still, it would surprise no one if Mr. Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping were to announce the ratification of the sweeping climate change agreement before the Sunday opening of the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. White House senior adviser Brian Deese said the president has the legal authority to ratify the accord without the two-thirds Senate vote required...

Paris-The proposed accord was just hours from a final vote when the glitch was spotted. Someone had changed a single word in the draft text—from a "should" to a "shall"-and suddenly the entire climate deal appeared at risk of faltering.Secretary of State John F. Kerry phoned his old friend, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius,in exasperation over a tiny revision that implied huge new legal and financial obligations."We cannot do this," Kerry warned.Less than four hours later,the accord was approved with the bang of a gavel. A bit of diplomatic finesse had excised the troublesome word and helped clinch a historic...