Kudos to Republican Senators on the Senate Environment and Public Works committee for trying to get to the bottom of the Obama Administration’s international climate pledge. In a letter to the President released just after yesterday’s Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on the Road to Paris: Examining the President’s International Climate Agenda and Implications for Domestic Environmental Policy, the senators requested:
- a detailed breakdown of the Administration’s goal of reducing U.S. greenhouse gas reduction 26% to 28% from the 2005 level by 2025;
- the administration’s position on the legal framework of the new climate treaty that’s expected to emerge from the international climate talks in Paris later this year;
- the particulars of the U.S.-China climate change announcement and China’s recently-announced commitment; and
- an assessment of the impacts of the U.S. goal on jobs and the economy.
“We have serious concerns,” they wrote, “that you and your Administration are rushing headlong into an agreement that would harm U.S. interests. The sheer magnitude and likely long-term impacts on the direction of the nation demand robust and transparent communication between the Executive and Legislative branches, particularly with respect to the Senate and its Constitutional advice and consent responsibilities.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. In fact, these are the same sorts of questions we and others have been posing to the administration in testimony and blog posts, only to be met with stonewalling.
When White House official Rick Duke was asked by the Financial Times about the lack of clarity in the U.S. commitment, he denied the problem entirely: “Our numbers are quite clear,” he said, “It’s other countries where we see more opportunities to clarify what the plans are.”
Hmmmm. I thought we already knew what the plans are for other large-emitting countries: China—rising emissions. Russia—rising emissions. India—rising emissions. Brazil—rising emissions. South Africa—rising emissions. South Korea—rising emissions. Mexico—rising emissions. You get the idea (even if the administration doesn’t).
Here’s wishing the senators success in getting the administration to come clean and lay out for the American people exactly what it’s planning and how much it will cost.