GOP senators warn negotiators: US climate goals might not last

A group of Republican senators on Thursday advised American negotiators to warn their international counterparts that President Obama’s climate goals might not survive the next administration.

In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, the senators, led by Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.), noted that American commitments to the international Paris climate deal aren’t binding and could be undone by an unfriendly Congress or Republican presidential administration.

{mosads}“Joining international agreements using ‘sole executive agreement authority’ leaves the door open for any future administration to alter its course,” the senators wrote.

“Understanding this is especially important in the context of climate change policies, because Congress’s unwillingness to support the president’s international efforts is not the result of gridlock — it is the result of explicit opposition.” 

Negotiators meet next week in Morocco to discuss how to implement the climate agreement reached in Paris last year. The deal — which formally kicks in on Friday — has countries set non-binding greenhouse gas reduction targets, including an Obama administration goal to cut emissions by up to 28 percent by 2025. 

Republicans in Congress oppose the deal and have voted to undo parts of it, but since it isn’t a binding treaty, the Senate didn’t need to ratify it. 

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has also promised to undo — or at the very least, ignore — the Paris deal if he’s elected president. GOP opposition means the stakes for the climate deal are high in next week’s presidential election. 

“I think there is a great deal of interest, not just domestically, but internationally, in terms of what the election outcome will be,” John Morton, director for climate and energy at the White House National Security Council, told reporters Thursday. 

“The candidates have very different views on climate.”