The Patriot Post® · Alas, the Paris Accord Is Restored

Just over a month ago, we discussed a strategy that President Donald Trump unfortunately never utilized before vacating the White House: Sending the Paris Climate Accord to the Senate for rejection. After all, Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution stipulates, “[The president] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur.”

Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, the man responsible for this reckless pipe dream, slyly abrogated his constitutional responsibility by not sending the accord to the Senate for ratification — with the help of a few Republicans, we might add. In fact, Matt Margolis of PJ Media points out, “Obama, who fancied himself a constitutional scholar, never even attempted to go to the Senate for ratification. Instead, he avoided referring to the agreement as a treaty publicly, in order to argue that Senate ratification wasn’t constitutionally mandated.”

Hmph.

Regrettably, President Trump stuck to his guns by exiting the accord via executive order. Thanks to some finagling established in the accord framework, this EO route auspiciously paved the way for Joe Biden to quickly rejoin it, which he hastily did — again by executive order — shortly after being sworn into office.

As NBC News notes, “On the updated White House website, climate change is second on a list of the administration’s priorities.” But it’s hardly second on voters’ priorities. As Gallup’s Frank Newport writes, “The top five problems facing the country today, from Americans’ viewpoint, are: COVID-19, poor government/poor government leadership, race relations/racism, the economy in general and the need to unify the country.” Furthermore, “The public does not mention climate change with any significant frequency as the nation’s top problem. … Less than half of Americans say they worry a great deal about climate change, and less than half say global warming will pose a serious threat in their lifetime.”

Populism in the U.S. is on the rise for this very reason. While jet-setting globalists obsess over the unfounded notion that the Paris accord is capable of staving off 1.5°C of global warming, the grassroots Americans worry about their families and paychecks and cultural depravity invading their schools. It’s a chasm that worsens every time Democrats engage in a monolithic, tone-deaf policy that taxes and regulates the citizens of their own country while letting the real polluters, China and India, off with a wrist slap and a promise.

Matt Margolis encouragingly predicts, “With any luck, the moment Biden illegally gets us back into the Paris climate treaty, Republicans will mount a legal challenge to it, and the Supreme Court will rightfully strike it down.” A Supreme Court, we might add, that includes three new stalwart constitutionalists, thanks to President Trump. While we wish it never needed to face the High Court, perhaps Trump, for whatever reason, envisioned a final act in which SCOTUS ultimately nullifies this congressional end run.