Mitch McConnell Undermines Obama’s Climate Plan With Other Countries

Posted by Jeff on Apr 2, 2015 @ 2:45 am in Conservation | 0 comments | Last modified: April 1, 2015

In an effort to undermine international negotiations aimed at combating climate change, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is telling other countries not to trust President Obama’s promise to significantly reduce the United States’ carbon emissions.

In a statement released March 31st, McConnell warned other countries to “proceed with caution” before pledging any carbon emissions reductions to the United Nations, saying the U.S. would likely not be able to meet its own climate goals. The statement came shortly after Obama announced the official U.S. plan to slash the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions as much as 28 percent as part of an international agreement brokered by the U.N.

“Even if the job-killing and likely illegal Clean Power Plan were fully implemented, the United States could not meet the targets laid out in this proposed new plan,” McConnell said, adding that “[O]ur international partners should proceed with caution before entering into a binding, unattainable deal.”

Earlier last month, McConnell told individual states to openly defy the EPA’s proposed rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. As McConnell represents Kentucky, a coal-producing state, regulations to reduce emissions from coal have been personal for the Majority Leader. In January, when he took control of the Senate, he said he felt “deep responsibility” to stop climate regulation on coal, which has the highest carbon content of all fossil fuels and accounts for nearly a quarter of all U.S. carbon emissions.

Read full story…