By now, you've probably heard that Obama is allegedly planning to circumvent the Constitution, American rule of law, Congress, the White Council, S.H.I.E.L.D., the Justice League, the United Federation of Planets, the Empire, Mt. Olympus, the Illuminati, God, and maybe even Jonathan Goldsmith just so he can, get this, do something...ANYTHING...however pathetically ineffectual about climate change in Paris in 2015.
He's also apparently trying to unseat one rather notorious Al. Al Gore, you say? Pah, small potatoes. With this unprecedented power-grab, Obama's aiming to take the crown of international crime and infamy from the corpse of none other than Al Capone himself.
Dun.
Dun.
Duuuuuunnnnnnnnn!!!!
Mitch McConnell, leader of the rebel resistance, warns...
"Unfortunately, this would be just another of many examples of the Obama administration's tendency to abide by laws it likes and to disregard laws it doesn't — and to ignore the elected representatives of the people when they don’t agree. Whether it's releasing terrorists from Guantanamo, hurting the economy and jobs with their unilateral EPA regulations, 'recess' appointments or Obamacare, this troubling approach does serious damage to the rule of law."
And James Inhofe, fearing for the lives of Bothans everywhere, declares...
"The Senate will not ratify a treaty that binds the United States to a regulatory body at the United Nations, and we will continue to fight the President’s economy crushing domestic greenhouse gas regulations. U.S. economic competitiveness is hanging in the balance, and additional U.S. restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions will only hurt the United States as other nations like Australia scrap their unsuccessful green dream policies."
See, only problem is, despite the rumors of his newly-discovered, universe-destroying, Sith Lord powers, Obama is not seeking a legally-binding agreement all on his own and lonesome, mostly because he can't do that without a treaty-ratifying, 67-vote threshold in the Senate.
So let's all just take a deep, soothing breath, close our eyes, find our happy place, let the Chicken Little panic subside, exhale, and see if we can figure out what it is he's really gonna try to do.
And, voilà, here's a decent explanation.
Under the "hybrid" climate approach, countries would not be legally required to enact domestic climate change policies. But they would make voluntary pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Progress on those pledges could be tracked and measured in an international system; countries that fall behind would be singled out, Obama’s climate negotiators told the New York Times.
This "naming and shaming" component is similar to the "trade policy review" mechanism used by the World Trade Organization, Joshua Meltzer, a fellow in global economy and development at the Brookings Institution, explained. In the WTO, each country’s trade policy is reviewed by the leadership and other member countries, and policies considered unfair or illegal can be challenged. "No government likes to be held up in front of the world as not meeting any of its commitments," he said.
Whether the Obama strategy can work -- and how well -- hinges on a handful of factors that have yet to be finalized. "The legal form of the treaty … is not the only thing that matters, in terms of effectiveness," Keohane said. "It’s the more boring and technical infrastructure stuff that really counts." That includes developing an accounting system to measure, review and verify emissions reductions, as well as providing incentives for governments to participate and comply with voluntary targets.
There ya have it. Very few legally-binding repercussions of any kind if countries fail to meet their stated emission-lowering goals. No crushing embargoes, no politicians sent to international court and jail, no trampling of American laws and sovereignty, no jackbooted thugs with blue helmets showing up, none of that. Just a review and an announcement of reduction target results, and incentives to meet them.
Of course, the futility of this milk-and-water agreement won't prevent denier politicians running around, hair on fire, wailing away that the president is trying to accomplish something meaningful behind their backs with it (like traction on the greatest threat we face would be a bad thing), and making grandstanding, menacing challenges along the lines of... "The more you tighten your grip, Lord Obama, the more congressional districts that will slip through your fingers!"
No comments:
Post a Comment