Boehner: China climate deal threatens ‘affordable, reliable energy’

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) attacked the climate deal the Obama administration made with China as a threat against the cheap energy that the middle class relies upon.

“This announcement is yet another sign that the president intends to double down on his job-crushing policies no matter how devastating the impact for America’s heartland and the country as a whole,” Boehner said in a statement early Wednesday.

{mosads}Boehner’s reaction followed the late Tuesday announcement by President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping in which the United States agreed to new greenhouse gas cuts and China promised to cap its emissions.

The Speaker called the announcement “the latest example of the president’s crusade against affordable, reliable energy that is already hurting jobs and squeezing middle-class families.”

Boehner promised to make it a priority in the next Congress to fight Obama’s environmental policies, including the China deal.

Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), the top members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Obama got a raw deal that will put the United States at an international disadvantage for years to come.

“Just when we are finally getting back on firmer economic footing, thanks in large part to our game-changing energy boom, a lame-duck president is working to stack the deck against American jobs, wage increases, and affordable energy,” the two lawmakers said. Upton is the committee’s chairman, and Whitfield leads the energy and power subcommittee.

Boehner, Upton and Whitfield joined fellow Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Sen. Jim Inhofe (Okla.) and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) in criticizing the China pact.