The Obama administration is reportedly attempting to bypass congressional ratification for an international move called a “sweeping international climate change agreement.”
According to The New York Times, Obama is preparing to hammer out this climate change agreement to “compel nations to cut their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions” ahead of a 2015 UN summit meeting in Paris.
Calling it a “politically binding” agreement, Obama is reportedly working with foreign operatives to create a “name and shame” program that would pressure nations into conforming to the new global warming limits. But such an agreement would not normally have any force of law on the United States unless two-thirds of the Senate vote to join the treaty.
But it does not appear that Obama has any intentions of submitting the plan to the Senate for official ratification.
Obama intends to claim that some of the new requirements are only an “update” to the 1992 climate treaty, meaning that he feels he doesn’t have to officially submit the new requirements to Congress.
It would also be in keeping with Obama’s practice to use his powers to regulate with agencies such as the EPA and merely mandate changes without any involvement of Congress.
As the Times points out:
In seeking to go around Congress to push his international climate change agenda, Mr. Obama is echoing his domestic climate strategy. In June, he bypassed Congress and used his executive authority to order a far-reaching regulation forcing American coal-fired power plants to curb their carbon emissions. That regulation, which would not be final until next year, already faces legal challenges, including a lawsuit filed on behalf of a dozen states.
But, as in most of the other global warming schemes, they are meaningless if only the U.S. and Europe abide by them. If China, India, and nations in South and Central America ignore them, all the efforts of the Western nations are pointless. For years, even Europe has repeatedly missed goals and shorted treaties on global warming.
A recent study, for instance, found that Germany would miss its 2050 climate change goals, and they are not alone. In fact, most of the European Union is falling far short of goals set in treaty after treaty, and all are having trouble making energy markets work.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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