On Tuesday US House Republicans blocked Obama’s regulations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a move he will likely veto but which highlights the intense domestic opposition he is facing to committing the United States to any worldwide framework.
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The other four were Presidents Alpha Condé of Guinea, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali, Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger and Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria.
It said the Secretary-General commended Africa’s proactive leadership on the issue of climate change as demonstrated by the initiatives on renewable energy and on adaptation of the continent launched in Paris. French President Francois Hollande was more apocalyptic, warning the world was at a “breaking point” on climate change.
The House sent a resounding message to the nations gathering in Paris for worldwide talks on climate change by approving two Senate resolutions to block President Obama’s restrictions on power plants.
“But even if somebody from a different party succeeded me, one of the things you find is when you’re in this job, you think about it differently than if you’re just running for the job”, he said.
Earlier Tuesday, the White House announced 73 US companies are pledging support for action on climate change.
That’s in spite of the fact that only 14 percent of respondents said they worry a “great deal” about global warming or climate change. Obama is in France for a two-day visit as part of the COP21, the United Nations Climate Change conference.
President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Centre, in Paris, on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. “Not because, by the way, the pledges alone will meet the necessary targets for us to prevent catastrophic climate change, but because we will have built the architecture that’s needed”. “What we’re hoping to get, and what the U.S.is pushing for, is something that is the same for all countries”.
Hmm. Wonder how much that contributes to global warming… That treaty required only rich countries to cut their emissions, while this time the goal is for everyone to pitch in.
President Barack Obama has acknowledged the United States’ role in rising carbon emissions, and has pledged to work with other countries to fix this grave issue. This was both for climate change adaptation but also for other measures, like technology transfer and capacity building, and installing a tremendous amount of clean energy.
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Obama predicted the inevitable ups and downs of the climate talks. Obama discussed the Climate Change conference, and the threat of terrorism from the Islamic State Group. As of now, the INDCs are unlikely to become a part of the agreement though there may be a reference to them in the agreement. “How the developing world develops, and the carbon intensity of their development, it’s really the whole story”, said Duffy, of the Woods Hole Research Center.
