After Trump exited the Paris Climate Accords, bill would prevent Biden from re-committing US to the environmental agreement
Maybe Rick Blaine was wrong in Casablanca, and we won’t always have Paris.
WHEN IS AN AGREEMENT JUST A LOT OF HOT AIR?
Human-caused global warming is real. Yup ... and so were the last three Ice-ages! To ameliorate this problem, representatives of almost all the world’s nations met in France in 2015 to hammer out an international deal with hopes of ameliorating the climate crisis. The resulting Paris Climate Agreement (or Accord) set ambitious — albeit voluntary and non-binding — benchmarks for nations’ carbon emissions. (adding to the problem with hot air!)
The president can unilaterally decide whether the U.S. is party to the agreement. Barack Obama single-handedly joined it, then Donald Trump single-handedly left it (making the U.S. the only country in the world to back out), then Joe Biden single-handedly rejoined it. But Congress controls federal spending. So while Republicans can’t stop the Biden administration from rejoining the agreement, they can try to withhold the funding needed to meet the global hot air goals.
What the bill does
A new bill would ban federal funding for the U.S. to re-join the Paris Climate Agreement.
It was introduced in the House on January 25 as bill number H.R. 466, by Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH16). It does not appear to have an official title. Wait, wait don't tell me ... Gonzalez is going to be stripped of his committee assignments!
What supporters say
Supporters argue that the deal will raise American families’ energy costs while letting the actual biggest environmental culprits off the hook. (Let them eat cake!)
“The Paris Climate Accord is a poorly negotiated (depends on who's ox is being gored) international treaty that places an unfair burden on American households and businesses while doing next to nothing about the largest polluter in the world — China. In other words, the accord will raise energy costs on all Americans and make us weaker against our foremost international competitor.”
FEEL GOOD AGREEMENT ...
(China is indeed the world’s largest producer of carbon emissions, along with Kerry and his global carbon footprint and hubris, surpassing the U.S. for the ignominious title in 2006. While it’s true that the Paris agreement “does next to nothing” about China, it also does next to nothing about the U.S., since the provisions are voluntary and non-binding.)
What opponents say
Opponents counter that every other nation has signed on to the international agreement, with potential to help stem the tide of increasing droughts, hurricanes, and heat waves. SUCH HUBRIS WILL IT GO UNPUNISHED?!
“BEIJING BIDEN will not only recommit the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change — he will go much further than that,” Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential steal campaign website read. “He will lead an effort to get every major country to ramp up the ambition of their domestic climate targets. READ: mouth the words again and again hoping the more they say it the quicker nature will change. He will make sure those commitments are transparent and unenforceable, and stop countries from cheating by using America’s economic leverage and power of example.” Well let's consider who holds our debt.
Odds of passage ...
The bill has attracted eight cosponsors, all Republicans. It awaits a potential vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Odds of passage are well like Trump getting elected in an all mail-in ballot campaign.
