(Reuters) – The Obama administration’s plan for U.N. climate
change talks encountered swift opposition after its release Tuesday, with
Republican leaders warning other countries to “proceed with caution” in
negotiations with Washington because any deal could be later undone.
The White House is seeking to enshrine its pledge in a
global climate agreement to be negotiated Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 in Paris. It calls
for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by close to 28 percent from 2005 levels
within a decade, using a host of existing laws and executive actions targeting
power plants, vehicles, oil and gas production and buildings.
But Republican critics say the administration lacks the
political and legal backing to commit the United States to an international
agreement.
“Considering that
two-thirds of the U.S. federal government hasn’t even signed off on the Clean
Power Plan and 13 states have already pledged to fight it, our international
partners should proceed with caution before entering into a binding,
unattainable deal,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
U.S. officials stressed that their Intended Nationally
Determined Contribution, U.N. lingo for its official submission, stands on
sound legal footing, with the measures drawing authority from legislation such
as the Clean Air Act and the Energy Independence and Security Act.
Todd Stern, the lead U.S. climate change negotiator, said he
frequently tells foreign counterparts that “undoing the kind of regulation we
are putting in place is very tough to do.”
But elements of the administration’s climate policy already
face legal challenges. On April 16, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.
will hear arguments from 13 states opposed to as-yet-unfinalized regulations
from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that target emissions in
existing power plants.
And McConnell’s warnings echoed the tone of a March 9 “open
letter” from 47 Republican senators to Iran, in which they warned a Republican
president would not be bound to honor a nuclear agreement struck by Democrat
Obama without congressional approval, calling it a “mere executive agreement.”
Some observers said that resistance to the administration’s
climate policies leaves foreign governments questioning whether Obama’s
commitments can last.
“By strenuously invoking EPA regulations, the Administration
is trying to convince skeptical international audiences that the U.S. can
actually deliver on its new climate goals, despite Republican resistance,” said
Paul Bledsoe, a former Clinton White House official who is now with the German
Marshall Fund of the United States. “But major capitals are likely to remain
nervous.”
The administration is clearly sensitive to the threat. Power
plants are the biggest domestic source of greenhouse gas emissions, and the EPA
is seeking to use its power to slash carbon levels from plants to 30 percent of
their 2005 levels by 2020.
On Monday, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said the agency
had designed power plant rules under the authority of the Clean Air Act – and
insisted that they can withstand Supreme Court scrutiny. “We don’t need a plan
B if we are solid on our plan A,” she said.
But Jeff Holmstead, a lawyer representing utilities
industries for Bracewell & Giuliani and former assistant administrator of
the EPA under George W Bush, says even if the courts uphold the EPA proposal on
power plants, a future Republican administration can reverse it.
“There are some EPA rules that are very difficult for a new
administration to change but this is not one of those rules,” Holmstead said.
He calculates that at least five high court justices are wary of the EPA’s
regulatory leeway.
Environmental groups, on the other hand, were more confident
that Obama’s measures cannot be reversed by the courts or politics.
“The Clean Air Act has proven to be quite durable,” said
David Waskow, director of international initiatives for the World Resources
Institute. “While elements may be slowed or modified by legal challenges, they
are rarely overturned.”
Source: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/republicans-warn-world-obama-u-n-plan-could-231904316.html
Comments
These rules are easy to undo if Congress
closes the EPA, repeals all the federal laws and quits the UN. Congress does need to rein-in the EPA and
replace its regulations now.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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