Inhofe pans history making climate pact

The United States and China are pledging to move faster to reduce or limit emissions of heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming. China and the U.S. are the world's two largest polluters, and by taking action together, leaders from both countries hope to spur other nations to be equally aggressive as they work to finalize a worldwide climate treaty next year.

What both countries are announcing, according to the White House:

United States

—Reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent by the year 2025, compared to what the U.S. was emitting in 2005. Previously, Obama had committed to cutting emissions by 17 percent by 2020 compared to 2005 levels, and officials say theU.S. is on track to meet that goal.

—Double the rate at which the U.S. is reducing its emissions per year. Between 2005 and 2020, the U.S. on average must cut emissions 1.2 percent per year to meet Obama's overall goal of 17 percent. Over the five years between 2020 and 2025, theU.S. aims to reduce emissions and average of 2.3 percent to 2.8 percent per year.

—Submit the new 2025 emissions reduction target by the end of the first quarter of 2015 as the intended U.S. contribution to the U.N. Framework Convention onClimate Change, the treaty that nations hope to finalize later in 2015 in Paris.

China

—Set a target for carbon dioxide emissions to peak by around 2030, with the goal of topping out earlier if possible.

—Expand the share of China's energy consumption derived from zero-emission sources to about 20 percent by 2030. The U.S. says that would require China to develop up to 1,000 gigawatts of new power from sources like nuclear, wind and solar.

US Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK), who is widely expected to be the next chair of of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, is one of the most vocal deniers of the scientific consensus of climate change. In a 2012 book he said global warming was “a hoax.”

Predictably, Inhofe released a statement calling the agreement reached with China “a charade.” In addition to denouncing the agreement, the Senator is clearly anti-China, and tries to discern a mandate from the recent election that voters join him in denying climate change.

Here is Inhofe’s statement:

"In the President's climate change deal, the United States will be required to more steeply reduce our carbon emissions while China won't have to reduce anything. It's hollow and not believable for China to claim it will shift 20 percent of its energy to non-fossil fuels by 2030, and a promise to peak its carbon emissions only allows the world's largest economy to buy time. China builds a coal-fired power plant every 10 days, is the largest importer of coal in the world, and has no known reserves of natural gas. This deal is a non-binding charade. The American people spoke against the President's climate policies in this last election. They want affordable energy and more economic opportunity, both which are being diminished by overbearing EPA mandates. As we enter a new Congress, I will do everything in my power to reign in and shed light on the EPA's unchecked regulations.”

Perhaps the vast majority of people who are knowledgeable about the subject, which Inhofe clearly is not, should take heart that he referred to the agreement as a “climate change deal.”

Details about the agreement from an AP story. Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Editorial comments regarding Sen. Inhofe’s views on climate change by Rob Howard, Political Columnist.

The Gayly – November 12, 2014 @ 2pm