Congress will exert its ability to block any agreements made by the Obama administration at the Conference of Parties climate change summit by withholding more than $3 billion in taxpayer funds promised by the Obama administration to certain countries, according to an in-depth government report published Tuesday by the Senate’s Environmental and Public Works Committee, which provides oversight on climate issues.
While President Barack Obama has maintained that parts of the climate agreement must be legally binding, Congress says that it is not on board with the agreement and will exert its legislative authority to block it, according to a 40-page white paper published by the Senate committee on Tuesday.
Some in Congress claim that the COP21 summit, which began on Monday, is a waste of taxpayer money and will result in agreements that harm the U.S. economy. In the white paper, the Senate committee vows to take all necessary action to block Obama’s agreements from being implemented
"This White Paper makes clear that the United States will not be a party to any agreement that sets targets or timetables for [Green House Gas] reductions, nor will the United States provide taxpayer dollars to a [United Nations] slush fund for foreign bureaucrats without congressional approval," the committee states in the document. "Without approval from Congress, the president’s commitments will be little more than a press release."
There is no way for the Obama administration to enforce any of the agreements made during the summit, according to the report.
"Rather than work with Congress, President Obama has chosen to go-it-alone to ‘decarbonize’ the American economy through unilateral executive actions that will not stand the test of time," it states. "While this may serve to polish President Obama’s reputation among the environmental activist community, it will not result in a binding international agreement or meaningfully impact global temperatures."
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R., Okla.), the committee’s chairman, said in a statement that the document provides a window into Obama’s "radical climate agenda."
"As the president urges action to fulfill his personal climate legacy in Paris, the American people and their representatives in Congress have strongly voiced opposition to any deal that is reached and will not tolerate American tax dollars being used for an economically disastrous policy," Inhofe said. "This potluck approach to international policy will not accomplish anything substantial."
Infhofe says Obama’s pledge of reducing green house gasses by 26 to 28 percent "doesn’t even add up to what it claims" and will have no "measurable impact on curbing global temperatures or curtailing global warming."
This benchmark is "unlikely to be fully implemented" as a result of current litigation challenging it and various "policy objections," according to the report
"President Obama’s international climate financing pledge of $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for developing countries is not supported by Congress," the report continues.
Congress also has taken issue with the administration’s failure to be fully transparent about the COP21 agreement.
"The Obama Administration has failed to be fully transparent and forthcoming with the American people, Congress, and the international community regarding U.S. actions," the report states. "Other countries appear to be using the COP-21 process as a way to bolster their own domestic coffers, at the expense of the American people."