How Republicans Are Freaking Out About The Historic U.S.- China Climate Agreement

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http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/11/12/3591317/republicans-freak-out-china-us-climate-deal/

The U.S. and China reached a historic deal on climate change Tuesday, an agreement that top conservatives have been quick to criticize.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was one of the first to condemn the deal, which ups the United States’ emissions reduction target to 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 and commits China, for the first time, to a goal of peaking carbon emissions and getting 20 percent of its energy from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. McConnell called the plan “unrealistic” and said that it, as part of the president’s “war on coal,” it would lead to a loss of U.S. jobs. He also said on Wednesday that he was “particularly distressed” by the deal and that it signals that President Obama doesn’t want to “move toward the middle” by negotiating with Republicans.
In addition, McConnell said, the deal “requires the Chinese to do nothing at all for 16 years while these carbon emissions regulations create havoc in my state and other states around the country.”
But China’s commitment to peak its emissions by 2030 — and possibly before — doesn’t mean that the country will sit idly by until then as emissions surge. Though experts have predicted that, if China continues on its current emissions path, emissions would likely peak by 2030 anyway, China’s willingness to be an international player in climate change efforts and its commitment to increase its non-fossil fuel energy sources to 20 percent by 2030 make the deal a significant step for the country. China has already positioned itself as a world leader in renewable energy investment in recent years, spending $56.3 billion on renewable projects in 2013. And far from doing “nothing,” some experts have praised the 20 percent target as ambitious.
“Twenty percent does sound fairly robust,” Jake Schmidt, director of the international program at the Natural Resources Defense Council told the New York Times. “You’re talking about 20 percent of a huge economy being based on non-carbon-dioxide emissions sources. That’s significant.”
McConnell isn’t the only lawmaker to take issue with the new deal. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) agreed with McConnell: he said Wednesday morning that the plan is “the latest example of the president’s crusade against affordable, reliable energy that is already hurting jobs and squeezing middle-class families.” As did Ed Whitfield (R-KY) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI): the two lawmakers said the deal meant that China is “promising to double their emissions while the administration is going around Congress to impose drastic new regulations inhibiting our own growth and competitiveness.” John Barasso (R-WY) also agreed, saying the deal is “a great deal for the Chinese government and the Chinese economy.”

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