World Leaders Warn of Possible Climate Agreement Failure

Heartland Institute cites CEI's expert Chris Horner on the Paris Treaty.

Attorney Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, says he expects something will be agreed to in Paris, but he says there are steps lawmakers can take in advance to reduce the chance any harmful deal will be successfully negotiated.

“First, Congress must ensure no funding for the climate slush fund [established for developing countries].” said Horner. Horner also suggests the U.S. Senate pass a sense of the Senate resolution before Paris indicating anything negotiated there will require Senate ratification to become effective. With a clear resolution from the Senate, lawmakers can prevent countries from claiming the United States is bound by any action taken at the Paris conference, Horner says.

“The all-important point is to ensure there is no reasonable claim that ‘the world’ could reasonably have believed the [Obama] administration was binding the U.S. to anything in Paris,” Horner said. “A simple majority is a resounding victory, showing that any pact is over 30 votes short of the necessary two-thirds.” Horner says lawmakers should act in the next two months rather than wait until after the Paris talks.