the white house is seeking to enshrine its pledge to cut emissions in a global climate agreement to be negotiated later this year in paris, formally submitting an outline of its commitment to the united nations yesterday republican leaders are warning other countries to 'proceed with caution' in negotiations with the obama administration because any deal could be later undone, however president barack obama lacks the  political and legal backing to commit the united states to an  international agreement, they say republican leaders are warning other countries to 'proceed with caution' in negotiations with the obama administration because any deal could be later undone  the white house's tuesday announcement that the us would cut greenhouse gas emissions by close to 28 percent from 2005 levels within a decade builds on a promise obama made last november in beijing in concert with chinese president xi jinping the two countries are the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gasses to meet its stated benchmark by 2025, the white house will rely on a host of existing laws and executive actions targeting power plants, vehicles, oil and gas production and buildings 'we can achieve this goal using laws that are already on the books, and it will be in place by the time the president leaves office,' brian deese, a senior adviser to the president, said according to the new york times obama has just two years remaining in office, but many of the senate's republican lawmakers who oppose the initiative will remain in positions of power long after the current president has moved on 'considering that two thirds of the us federal government  hasn't even signed off on the clean power plan and 13 states  have already pledged to fight it, our international partners  should proceed with caution before entering into a binding,  unattainable deal,' senate majority leader mitch mcconnell noted on tuesday the un climate conference is to take place from nov 30 to dec 11 us officials stressed that their intended nationally  determined contribution, un lingo for its official submission,  stands on sound legal footing, with the measures drawing  authority from legislation such as the clean air act and the  energy independence and security act todd stern, the lead us climate change negotiator, said he  frequently tells foreign counterparts that 'undoing the kind of  regulation we are putting in place is very tough to do' but elements of the administration's climate policy already  face legal challenges on april 16, a federal appeals court in  washington, dc will hear arguments from 13 states opposed to  as yet unfinalized regulations from the environmental protection  agency (epa) that target emissions in existing power plants mcconnell's warnings echoed the tone of a march 9 'open  letter' from 47 republican senators to iran, in which they  warned a republican president would not be bound to honor a  nuclear agreement struck by democrat obama without congressional  approval, calling it a 'mere executive agreement' so did missouri senator roy blunt's blunt holds the position of vice chairman in the senate republican conference 'just as we witnessed throughout recent negotiations with iran and during the previous climate agreement with china, president obama and his administration act as if congress has no role in these discussions,' blunt said in a tuesday statement 'that’s just flat out wrong' 'we will not stand by and allow the president to unilaterally enact bad energy policies that hurt our nation’s poorest families and young people the most,' he said the white house's tuesday announcement that the us would cut greenhouse gas emissions by close to 28 percent from 2005 levels within a decade builds on a promise obama made last november in beijing in concert with chinese president xi jinping  some observers said that resistance to the administration's  climate policies leaves foreign governments questioning whether  obama's commitments can last 'by strenuously invoking epa regulations, the administration  is trying to convince skeptical international audiences that the  us can actually deliver on its new climate goals, despite  republican resistance,' said paul bledsoe, a former clinton  white house official who is now with the german marshall fund of  the united states 'but major capitals are likely to remain nervous' the administration is clearly sensitive to the threat power  plants are the biggest domestic source of greenhouse gas  emissions, and the epa is seeking to use its power to slash  carbon levels from plants to 30 percent of their 2005 levels by  2020 on monday, epa administrator gina mccarthy said the agency  had designed power plant rules under the authority of the clean  air act   and insisted that they can withstand supreme court  scrutiny 'we don't need a plan b if we are solid on our plan a,' she  said jeff holmstead, a lawyer representing utilities  industries for bracewell & giuliani and former assistant  administrator of the epa under george w bush, says even if the  courts uphold the epa proposal on power plants, a future  republican administration can reverse it 'there are some epa rules that are very difficult for a new  administration to change but this is not one of those rules,' holmstead said he calculates that at least five high court  justices are wary of the epa's regulatory leeway environmental groups, on the other hand, were more confident  that obama's measures cannot be reversed by the courts or  politics 'the clean air act has proven to be quite durable,' said  david waskow, director of international initiatives for the  world resources institute 'while elements may be slowed or  modified by legal challenges, they are rarely overturned'
barack obama the united states republican obama us close to 28 percent 2005 a decade senate gop mitch mcconnell roy blunt white house
president barack obama lacks the political and legal backing to commit the united states to an international agreement, republican lawmakers say . obama committed the us to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by close to 28 percent from 2005 levels within a decade . 'our international partners should proceed with caution before entering into a binding, unattainable deal,' senate gop leader mitch mcconnell said . 'we will not stand by and allow the president to unilaterally enact bad energy policies,' senator roy blunt said . white house says it can achieve its goal 'using laws that are already on the books, and it will be in place by the time the president leaves office'