A Senate committee is threatening to block any global warming agreements signed by the Obama administration at a world summit in Paris — including a pledge of more than $3 billion to a U.N. climate fund.
The challenge comes in a 40-page white paper published by the
Senate's Environmental and Public Works Committee, which provides oversight on climate issues.
Oklahoma Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, who chairs the committee, calls the panel's document a look at President Barack Obama's "radical climate agenda,"
The Washington Free Beacon reports.
"As the president urges action to fulfill his personal climate legacy in Paris, the American people and their representatives in Congress have strongly voiced opposition to any deal that is reached and will not tolerate American tax dollars being used for an economically disastrous policy."
"This potluck approach to international policy will not accomplish anything substantial," he adds.
The committee document declares "the United States will not be a party to any agreement that sets targets or timetables for [green house gas] reductions, nor will the United States provide taxpayer dollars to a [United Nations] slush fund for foreign bureaucrats without congressional approval."
"Without approval from Congress, the president's commitments will be little more than a press release."
According to the Senate committee document, the administration can't enforce any agreements from the summit — even though Obama said exactly the opposite on Tuesday, declaring portions of the global warming deal being hammered out in Paris should be legally binding on the countries that sign on.
"Rather than work with Congress, President Obama has chosen to go-it-alone to 'decarbonize' the American economy through unilateral executive actions that will not stand the test of time," the white paper states.
"While this may serve to polish President Obama's reputation among the environmental activist community, it will not result in a binding international agreement or meaningfully impact global temperatures."
Inhofe claims Obama's pledge of reducing green house gasses by 26 to 28 percent "doesn't even add up to what it claims" and will have no "measurable impact on curbing global temperatures or curtailing global warming," the Free Beacon reports.
And his committee's document declares Obama's "international climate financing pledge of $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund … for developing countries is not supported by Congress."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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