Our elected officials have responsibilities to their constituents, not UN bureaucrats and foreign organizations.
President Trump has vowed to once again extract the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement. Our entrance (both times) is dubious; but so are the impacts of the extensive contractual obligations required of the treaty’s signatories.
The accord does little to advance U.S. interests and only serves to diminish our strength and national security. The removal process needs to begin on day one.
The Paris climate agreement is an international treaty aimed at limiting global temperature increases to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and committing to net zero emissions by mid-century.
Adopted by 196 parties at the U.N. climate change conference (COP21) in Paris, in December 2015, it went into effect the following November. Participating countries submit their national climate action plans, which should become increasingly ambitious every five years.
Under our constitutional form of government, treaties are to be ratified by the Senate. President Obama, however, evaded such a review by merely calling it an executive agreement, for it surely would not have received the requisite two-thirds vote. But it is in fact a treaty; even the U.N. calls it such. President Biden simply followed Obama’s footsteps with an executive order to reenter.
A proposition of this magnitude deserves critical analysis and examination before enlisting our entire nation as a participant. Foregoing senatorial review undermines an essential component of the Constitution’s checks and balances.
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Kristen Walker is a policy analyst for the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, visit www.theamericanconsumer.org or follow us on Twitter @ConsumerPal.