FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Kristina Baum (EPW) – 202.224.6176
Donelle Harder (EPW) – 202.224.4721
Inhofe Statement on China’s Climate Announcement
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the U.S. Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, released a statement following on the United States’ and China’s latest announcement on climate change:
“If the president was serious about achieving a substantive climate agreement, he would spend more time working with Congress instead of developing press releases with the Chinese government. These public pledges sound good, but come with serious economic consequences for the United States. The Obama administration will use regulatory overreach to claim our nation's commitment, while China’s pledge has no guarantee of enforcement. This is a great deal for the Chinese who are slated to continue increasing emissions with the potential of capping them years from now. China stands to not only inherit a bounty of U.S. taxpayer dollars through various 'climate change' and ‘sustainability' initiatives but also inherit U.S. manufacturing jobs and economic investment that the president’s carbon mandates will deliver straight to Beijing. In China, assurance of continued economic growth has and will continue to outweigh any nonbinding and untrustworthy global warming pledges.”
On July 8, Inhofe led ten Senators in a letter to President Obama requesting a detailed response for how the U.S. will plan to meet a pledge of 26-28 percent emissions reduction by 2025, as represented by the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Senators are still awaiting the president’s response.
Also on July 8, Mr. David Bookbinder, former Sierra Club chief climate counsel, testified before the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, that the president’s goal would fall dramatically short of meeting the U.S. target of cutting emissions 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
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