Republican leaders are promising to fight President Barack Obama’s new energy regulation commitment with China.
“This announcement is yet another sign that the president intends to double down on his job-crushing policies no matter how devastating the impact for America’s heartland and the country as a whole,” said a statement from House Speaker John Boehner.
“Our economy can’t take the president’s ideological war on coal that will increase the squeeze on middle-class families and struggling miners,” said a statement from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Under the commitment, which was announced Tuesday, and which has no international enforcement mechanism, the United States will regulate the energy sector to reduce energy use by almost 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
“Today, I can also announce that the United States has set a new goal of reducing our net greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2025,” Obama announced at a press conference in China.
“This is an ambitious goal, but it is an achievable goal,” he said.
“It will double the pace at which we’re reducing carbon pollution in the United States,” he said.
“It puts us on a path to achieving the deep emissions reductions by advanced economies that the scientific community says is necessary to prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change,” said Obama, who leaves office in two years.
In the United States, Obama’s deputies and allies will try to enforce the binational pact via tighter regulations from regulatory agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency.
But under the plan, China’s government will continue to increase its energy use until 2030 — 16 years from now — after which energy use is supposed to level. China’s government also promised it would try to reduce the share of energy produced by coal plants.
The commitment “is the latest example of the president’s crusade against affordable, reliable energy that is already hurting jobs and squeezing middle-class families,” Boehner said.
“This unrealistic plan, that the president would dump on his successor, would ensure higher utility rates and far fewer jobs,” McConnell said.
“Republicans have consistently passed legislation to rein in the EPA and stop these harmful policies from taking effect, and we will continue to make this a priority in the new Congress,” Boehner said.