http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/climate-change-obama-paris-216716
The reliance on presidential authorities means that while Obama can take much of the credit for the agreement, its ultimate success is in the hands of the next administration.
“The President is making promises he can’t keep, writing checks he can’t cash, and stepping over the middle class to take credit for an ‘agreement’ that is subject to being shredded in 13 months,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.
Key parts of the Paris pact are nonbinding, the only way Obama could avoid seeking approval of the deal in Congress, something he knew would be impossible. He learned that lesson in his first term, when cap-and-trade legislation failed on Capitol Hill, prompting the Environmental Protection Agency to develop its own set of greenhouse gas rules. Those regulations are now at the mercy of the courts, which will decide over the coming years whether the president overstepped his authority as president.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/climate-change-obama-paris-216716#ixzz3uFSoyeHT
