According to climatologist Judith Curry from Georgia Tech, Obama’s Clean Power Plan will prevent less than 0.03 degrees Fahrenheit of global warming 85 years from now. An even more extensive plan is being pursued at the Paris Climate Talks. Why such a plan, when it is obvious it will do nothing to prevent global warming?
All the officials are doing in Paris right now are talking. They are not solving any problems, and they are certainly not having an impact on the climate.
Unfortunately, the one thing the Paris talks will impact is freedom. Officials are trying to determine whether a climate agreement limiting carbon emissions will be binding or voluntary. Although voluntary sounds good, it actually could be worse for America than a binding agreement. A binding agreement would have to go through Senate approval. With the current make up of the Senate, it is highly unlikely any such treaty would be ratified. A voluntary agreement, on the other hand, could be used by the Obama administration as an excuse not to send the treaty before the Senate, so that the president could hold America to emissions standards without any feedback from Congress.
Many developing nations have threatened to walk away if developed nations are not held to a higher standard on emissions and payouts. That means the United States would have to cut back on emissions further and pay billions of dollars more to a climate fund than India or China.
Also still up in the air is whether a “climate tribunal” will be created. This would give developing nations the opportunity to bring developed nations to court for climate injustices. Whether that be floods, tidal waves, hurricanes, what have you. If a third world country thought something wrong with their nation was a result of climate change that all of our factories and cars have caused, they could sue us for it.