In the run-up to the COP 21 meeting, President Obama has worked to assure other parties to the Paris talks that the U.S. is serious about reducing greenhouse gases. He has done this by launching initiatives, promulgating rules and promoting efforts at home, such as the publication and promotion of the National Climate Assessment in 2014 and the issuance of the Clean Power Plan rule. The Administration has also launched media campaigns across federal agencies and leveraged social media, using the hashtag #ActOnClimate.
In October, the President announced that 81 companies had signed onto the American Business Act on Climate Pledge demonstrating their “support for action on climate change and [for] the conclusion of a climate change agreement in Paris that takes a strong step forward toward a low-carbon, sustainable future.” The companies have also pledged to support “ambitious” climate action that includes reducing GHG emissions, increasing low-carbon investments and using more clean energy.
Similarly, on November 19, the White House held a summit highlighting the important work being done at universities to act on climate and announced that more than 200 university and colleges had signed onto the American Campuses Act on Climate Pledge in support of the need for a “comprehensive, ambitious agreement at the upcoming United Nations Climate Negotiations in Paris.”
The State Department has said on many occasions that the Obama Administration is not seeking legally binding emissions targets (i.e., a treaty) as part of the Paris climate change agreement. Earlier this year, in June, the French foreign minister acknowledged that any agreement would need to be worded in such a way that approval by the U.S. Congress would not be required.
Meanwhile, Republicans in the Senate have indicated for months that any Paris agreement should require Senate ratification. On November 19, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced a resolution (S. Con. Res. 25) calling on the President to seek the advice and consent of the Senate on any climate agreement produced in Paris. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) has also indicated he will send a letter to the President with signatures from the House and Senate that outlines concerns about a potential climate agreement. And in related news, on November 17 the Senate passed two resolutions, S.J. Res 24, which would nullify the Clean Power Plan, and S.J. Res. 23, which would stop the regulation on new source performance standards for new and modified power plants.