GOP Plots Global Climate Pact Attack

Source: Politico

Top Republican lawmakers are planning a wide-ranging offensive — including outreach to foreign officials by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office — to undermine President Barack Obama's hopes of reaching an international climate change agreement that would cement his environmental legacy. ... A top policy aide to McConnell (R-Ky.) has had conversations with a select group of representatives from foreign embassies to make it clear that Republicans intend to fight Obama's climate agenda at every turn, sources familiar with the efforts say.... He has had conversations with officials representing both developed and developing countries. Environment & Energy Publishing first reported on his efforts.

McConnell himself warned foreign leaders last spring to "proceed with caution before entering into a binding, unattainable deal” with Obama, noting that "two-thirds of the U.S. federal government" — Congress and the Supreme Court — hasn't signed off on the president's plans.

Republicans have no direct way of interfering with December's climate summit in Paris, and Obama's domestic climate strategy relies almost entirely on executive branch regulations that don't require Congress' approval. But the resistance could threaten to gum up progress in carrying out Obama's policies, making it easier to undo them if the GOP retakes the White House in 2016.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/gop-congress-climate-pact-paris-213382#ixzz3l4ZFGoas