Battle looms large over US climate change policy

For more than 100 world leaders, the effects of global temperatures rising have reached a point where urgent action is needed.

As President Francois Hollande of France said Monday at the opening of the United Nations global conference on climate change in Paris, “Never have the stakes of an international meeting been so high, since what is at stake is the future of the planet, the future of life.”

President Barack Obama went a step further in his address to the huge assembly of world leaders when he admitted that the United States shared some of the blame for the environmental changes that have occurred due to human activity.

“I’ve come here personally, as the leader of the world’s largest economy and the second-largest emitter, to say that the United States of America not only recognizes our role in creating this problem, we embrace our responsibility to do something about it,” Obama said.

That mea culpa of sorts from the president was certain to raise the hackles of Republicans in Congress and Republican presidential candidates who have dismissed the White House’s position on climate change as fear-mongering.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCar- thy, R-Calif., wasted no time in laying out the GOP response to Obama’s comments, in particular, and the climate change conference in general.

McCarthy said he will reject any effort by Obama to commit taxpayer dollars to support the climate agreement being hammered out in Paris.

The leader noted that Congress has the authority to decide how to spend public dollars, “and I don’t think that’s the best use of our money.”

Republicans could use the must-pass year-end spending bill currently in the works as the vehicle for language blocking any such expenditure.

Progress in America

McCarthy also took exception to the president’s overall approach at the global climate change talks, saying he should be focusing on America’s progress in switching to natural gas and thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

There are several pieces of legislation making their way through the GOP-controlled Congress that are designed to block the Obama administration from proceeding with its initiatives. One of the points of contention is the controls imposed by the administration on coal-generated power-plant emissions.

Several states have sued the federal government to block the standards from taking effect.

With the climate-change battle lines long drawn between the White House and Republicans on Capitol Hill, the latest clash comes as no surprise. Obama obviously knows that nothing he says or does will persuade the deniers of climate change that urgent action is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Thus, his decision to go for broke in his speech in Paris. By admitting America’s role in the rising temperature of the planet, the president is saying to the world that this country is fully committed to changing its ways. He also is attempting to build public support for the climate change agreement expected to come out of the two-week conference. More than 30,000 diplomats and delegates from around the world are participating in this global endeavor.

The aim is to secure a commitment from every country, developed and underdeveloped, to reduce emissions that are causing the planet to warm.

But, with Republicans in Congress conveying a clear message that the agreement won’t be worth the paper it’s written on, the question of enactment looms large.

Indeed, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in an opinion piece prior to the start of the conference that none of the commitments made by Obama will see the light of day. That’s because even Democrats on Capitol Hill are voicing concern about the economic impact of the emission standards being pushed by the administration.

McConnell also left little doubt that if a Republican succeeds Obama, whose term ends in January 2017, there will be a complete reassessment of the administration’s environmental initiatives.

Given that, the president’s best bet may lie with the private-public sector effort launched by billionaire Bill Gates and others and governments around the world to pursue alternate sources of energy. Billions of dollars in grants will be available.