Energy Scorecard

This week the Senate will vote on amendment #78 by Senator Blunt to express the sense of the Senate regarding bilateral and international agreements regarding greenhouse gas emissions.

In November, President Obama announced an agreement with China concerning greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Under this agreement the U.S. would reduce emissions by 25% by the year 2025, while the Chinese would effectively intend to “make best efforts” to cap emissions around the year 2030.

This agreement will harm the U.S. economy and do nothing to help the environment. While the U.S. cuts our emissions and hurts our economy it will encourage businesses and the jobs that support them to move to countries like China with less stringent mandates. Emissions in China could double or triple before they may actually cap them.

Furthermore, it has been widely reported the Obama administration is working with other countries for a wider international agreement on greenhouse gases for the Paris climate change conference in December of this year. More concerning are reports that the administration is trying to craft an agreement to avoid the Senate’s constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on the agreement.

This amendment would make clear that the China agreement is not in the best interest of the country. Any future agreement for Paris should not be signed if it is going to seriously harm the U.S. economy. Additionally, these agreements have no force of law without the Senate’s advice and consent.

Advise and consent of international agreements is an important check on the executive that was envisioned by our Founding Fathers and a key part of our Constitutional framework for governing. Efforts to sidestep this are unacceptable.

The American Energy Alliance supports this amendment. YES IS THE PRO-ENERGY, PRO-RULE OF LAW, AND PRO-FREE MARKET VOTE.