Congress will now have to decide whether they're more comfortable looking like fools or doing something good for all of us.
Environmental groups offered fulsome praise for the administration’s move. Here’s a typical statement, from the Sierra Club:
President Obama’s pledge to the Green Climate Fund shows that he is taking the lead in creating a path to real progress in Paris. But, this commitment will do more than lay the groundwork for a strong international agreement. It will also help developing countries fund critical investments to reduce emissions and protect themselves from the devastating effects of climate disruption, helping stabilize their future while securing our own. The Sierra Club applauds the President for making this historic commitment.
Notice something strange? Like every other statement, they seem to oddly assume that the funding will actually materialize. It probably won’t. Congress appropriates money, and this Republican Congress will not appropriate money for anything “green” or “climate.” If there’s one thing Republicans hate more than sharing money with poor people, it’s sharing money with poor people in other countries to combat climate change.
As the National Journal reports, “In a statement, Sen. Jim Inhofe, the incoming chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, vowed to fight the pledge, which he said was part of a climate-change agenda that’s ‘siphoned precious taxpayer dollars away from the real problems facing the American people.’”
Good old Jim Inhofe to the rescue! Personally, I'd give up a few taxpayer dollars to know my kids and grandkids have a planet to live on. But Inhofe will serve his masters well, and make the country look foolish in the process.
