Should the President comply with Paris Agreement goals?
Bill Summary
Should the President comply with Paris Agreement goals? The bill would require the President to create a plan that would allow the U.S. to meet climate goals described in the Paris Agreement. The plan laid out would include a path to reducing the U.S.’s greenhouse gas emission by 26-28% by 2025 and outline how we plan to hold other major economies accountable for reaching their own goals.
Sponsor: Rep. Kathy Castor (Democrat, Florida, District 14)
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Opponents say
• “Go look at the countries that are still in the Paris agreement and see what their CO2 emissions were. It’s one thing to sign a document; it’s another thing to actually change your behavior… [T]his was why President Trump withdrew, because it was a document without any enforcement mechanism that was going to cost the American people a fortune for no benefit” - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
• “[The Paris Agreement] would not have protected our environment and would have been particularly harmful to our economy and job creation.” - Sen. Patrick Toomey (Republican, Pennsylvania)
• “[T]he climate regulations encompassing the U.S. target may not even achieve the desired results and would require additional regulations. And that would just be the beginning. The Paris Agreement requires ever-increasing targets as time goes on, which would further increase the cost of compliance. These efforts would return us to the same costly and ineffective policies that the current administration is unwinding.” - The Heritage Foundation
Proponents say
• “It was with America’s leadership and engagement that so many nations committed to climate action in the international Paris Agreement… We can create millions of good-paying clean energy jobs right now... We can save billions of dollars in energy costs for working people right now. We can finally address decades of environmental injustice right now. And we can respond to the incredible groundswell of activism from young people who are demanding climate action now as well.” - Rep Kathy Castor (Democrat, Florida, District 14)
• “The ‘Climate Action Now’ Act is vital because it makes sure the United States keeps its pledge on the Paris Climate agreement, recommitting to carbon emission targets we already voluntarily set. This is necessary if we want to ratchet down carbon pollution in order to stave off the worst impacts of climate change.” - Andrea McGimsey, Senior Director of Environment America’s Global Warming Solutions Campaign
• “Climate change is a direct threat to the national security of the United States... The time for action to avoid the worst effects of climate change is rapidly closing. We must demonstrate to the rest of the world and to future generations that we’re still committed to taking on this fight” - Rep. Eliot Engel (Democrat, New York, District 16)
- Castor Introduces Climate Action Now Act (H.R. 9) to Ensure U.S. Meets Climate Goals (Press Release)
- Climate Action Now Act Moves Forward (Environment America)
- On Climate, Democrats Now Have a Plan to Make a Plan (The Atlantic)
- Congress is Ready to Tackle Climate Change (The Hill)
- Democrats Want to Rejoin the Paris Accord. Let’s Recall Why it Was Such a Bad Deal (The Heritage Foundation)
- Pompeo: Paris Climate Accords ‘Didn’t Change a Thing’ (The Hill)
