The Biden administration is pushing countries to “accelerate” their climate action and spending $3 billion in taxpayer dollars as a pledge to climate and &#8220;gender equity&#8221; funds, the White House announced Saturday. 
At the Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, the White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/12/02/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-leverages-historic-u-s-climate-leadership-at-home-and-abroad-to-urge-countries-to-accelerate-global-climate-action-at-u-n-climate-conference-cop28/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vowed</a> to spend $3 billion to help its international partners “mobilize finance at the pace and scale required.” Vice President Kamala Harris officially announced the move during her remarks at the COP28 conference where she also laid the groundwork for “a series of new, historic actions across every sector of the economy, including energy supply, transportation, and buildings – all while advancing environmental justice and promoting climate resilient communities.”
“The U.S. is committed to expanding international climate finance,” Harris <a href="https://twitter.com/vp/status/1730904644652556662?s=46&amp;t=o-U3qwC25WnWaylJ0oeG7Q">said</a>. “I am proud to announce a new $3 billion pledge to the Green Climate Fund to help developing countries access capital to invest in resilience, clean energy, and nature-based solutions.”
Buried deep in the White House fact sheet are commitments to advancing “gender equity amid climate change,” which include an additional $449 million for new programs such as Global Girls Creating Change, a program that seeks to give 900 girls and young women in 29 different countries “professional opportunities in the sustainable economy.” 
The White House said the Rockefeller Foundation will be committing $25 million to the Co-Impact Gender Fund, seeking to “advance gender equity amid climate change.” The UPS Foundation is also committing $3 million to the Climate Gender Equity Fund “to foster a greener world and create economic opportunities for women.” 
The White House’s fact sheet on the initiative credited the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which were passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden over the past two years, for pushing the U.S. toward reaching its emissions target dictated by the Paris Climate Agreement. After getting into the White House, Biden immediately <a href="https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-officially-rejoins-the-paris-agreement/">rejoined</a> the Paris Climate Agreement a few months after former President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/03/930312701/u-s-officially-leaving-paris-climate-agreement">withdrew</a> the U.S. from the accord in 2020. 
The Paris Climate Agreement emphasizes “gender equality” and “international equity” in its preamble, <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Brief_Gender%20in%20the%20work%20of%20the%20AC.pdf">stating</a>, “Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity.”
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The U.N. also <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Brief_Gender%20in%20the%20work%20of%20the%20AC.pdf">focuses</a> on gender in its climate policy, claiming, “Gender is a relevant point of analysis for developing and implementing climate policy and action.” The U.N. also states that “gender is socially constructed,” adding that a “gender-responsive approach” to climate policy “is critical to understanding vulnerability and to effectively adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change.”

Joe Biden/Kamala Harris

White House Announces $3 Billion For Green Projects Overseas, Including Nearly $500M For ‘Gender Equity’

White House Announces $3 Billion For Green Projects Overseas, Including Nearly $500M For 'Gender Equity'

Biden Administration

Climate Change

Gender Equality

Joe Biden

Kamala Harris

Paris Accord

U.S.

United Nations

The world&#8217;s major greenhouse gas emitters are not on their way to meeting their climate goals almost seven years after the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/paris-accord" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paris Agreement</a> was signed.
Overall, none of the four largest producers of greenhouse gases have cut their emissions enough to reach the benchmarks set by the Paris Agreement. Those main emitters are the U.S., India, China, and the E.U., according to new information released by Climate Action Tracker, an independent organization, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/climate/cop27-emissions-country-compare.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> by The New York Times.
Each country differs on how it is progressing regarding emissions. China has the highest amount of emissions, which have been increasing over the past twenty years.
The country puts out almost one third of all greenhouse gases released by humans on the planet, which is more than the U.S., Japan, and Europe all put together. China’s emissions are getting close to their peak amounts, yet the country hasn’t put out new emissions reductions goals this year.
The United States has put out the most emissions historically and is still one of the highest emitters per capita. President Joe Biden has pushed for more climate change agenda items since taking office. The Democrats also pushed through the Inflation Reduction Act, which included a lot of federal money for green energy projects, including tax <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/summary_of_the_energy_security_and_climate_change_investments_in_the_inflation_reduction_act_of_2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">credits</a> for wind turbines and solar panels, nuclear power plants, and carbon capture, plus help for electric vehicles.
While the European Union reduced its emissions in recent years, it has faced energy crises this year. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has set the countries back. Russia drastically cut energy supplies to the EU and has created a dangerous situation ahead of winter, forcing most on the continent to try to find other energy sources.
Germany has ramped up its coal mining and imports to get more resources before the cold winter months hit, and European citizens are struggling under high energy costs. The EU is making the most progress of the four emitters toward reaching its pledges to cut emissions, but their efforts have come at a cost.
India’s emissions are projected to surpass the EU’s next year, which will be exacerbated as its population rises. India’s population is on track to surpass China’s next year.
The United Nations also recently put out a <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/commitments-forests-are-nowhere-near-what-needed-reach-paris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> that said the world is not on its way to reaching its ambitions to stop and reverse deforestation by 2030, which is a key tenet of the Paris Agreement&#8217;s aim to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

default

World’s Major Greenhouse Gas Emitters Falling Short Of Climate Goals

World's Major Greenhouse Gas Emitters Falling Short Of Climate Goals In Paris Agreement

Communist China

Environment

World

A court in France found the country guilty of failing to meet its commitments as outlined in the Paris climate accord.
CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-climate-agreement-france-court-government-guilty-failing-commitments/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&amp;linkId=110833501">reported</a> that the Administrative Tribunal in Paris ruled last week that France had failed to meet its commitments outlined in the accord, which required the country to reduce greenhouse gases. Four environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the government alleging the country was damaging the environment by not meeting its promises.
“While the court declared the government guilty of inaction, it rejected a claim for damages by the four NGOs that brought the suit, ordering the government to pay just one symbolic euro to them instead. The tribunal also said it would decide within two months whether to recommend any measures for the government to resolve its failure to meet its own commitments,” CBS reported.
The Paris climate accord was signed in December 2015 and named after France’s capital city, where the signing occurred. At the time, 196 countries agreed to reduce global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius as compared to 1990 levels, CBS reported. France promised to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% of those levels by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In 2020, however, France said it was deferring that commitment, which prompted the four environmental groups to file the lawsuit.
Cecile Duflot, the former Green Party leader and cabinet minister who now leads Oxfam France, one of the environmental groups that sued, called the ruling “a historic victory for climate justice.” Jean-Francois Julliard, the director of Greenpeace France, which also contributed to the lawsuit, called the ruling “a political victory.”
“Wednesday&#8217;s ruling was a blow for French president Emmanuel Macron, who&#8217;s made combatting climate change a priority for his administration. It was also a pointed slap in the face for the country that oversaw the negotiations and signing of the Paris Agreement,” CBS reported. “The French government issued a statement saying it had ‘taken note of’ the court&#8217;s decision, acknowledging that initial objectives had not been achieved and promising that a new bill to address the climate would be debated in parliament next month. That legislation, the government said, would constitute ‘a new and decisive step in accelerating France&#8217;s ecological transition.’”
In 2019, then-President Donald Trump officially pulled the United States out of the Paris climate deal, with then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo citing the “unfair economic burden imposed on American workers, businesses and taxpayers” the deal imposed. On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to force the U.S. to rejoin the Paris accord, The Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-signs-17-executive-orders-first-day-in-office-controversial-actions">reported</a>.
In 2017, Trump informally removed the U.S. from the Paris accord, even though the agreement said countries couldn’t withdraw for the first three years. Even after Trump symbolically withdrew the U.S., America led the world in decreasing carbon emissions, The Daily Wire’s Emily Zanotti <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/after-pulling-out-paris-climate-accords-us-led-emily-zanotti">reported</a>.
“Strangely enough, Canada, Spain, the European Union, and China — all signatories to the infamous Paris Climate Accords negotiated by the United Nations — saw significant increases in carbon dioxide emissions. China released 120 million more tons of carbon dioxide into the air in 2017 than in 2016. The EU made up for America’s decline, releasing 40 million more tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,” Zanotti reported.

French President Macron

France Isn’t Meeting Its Own Paris Climate Accord Commitments

France

President Joe Biden signed 17 Executive Orders on his first day in office, which included a number of controversial actions that took political aim at erasing as much of President Donald Trump&#8217;s presidency.
The move by Biden comes after he repeatedly called for &#8220;unity&#8221; during his inaugural address on Wednesday afternoon.
One of the most controversial Executive Orders that Biden signed &#8220;unilaterally eviscerate[d] women&#8217;s sports,&#8221; author and women&#8217;s rights activist Abigail Shrier <a href="https://twitter.com/AbigailShrier/status/1352121732723666946">wrote</a> on Twitter. &#8220;Any educational institution that receives federal funding must admit biologically-male athletes to women&#8217;s teams, women&#8217;s scholarships, etc. A new glass ceiling was just placed over girls.&#8221;
The order states in part:
<blockquote>Every person should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear, no matter who they are or whom they love. Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports. Adults should be able to earn a living and pursue a vocation knowing that they will not be fired, demoted, or mistreated because of whom they go home to or because how they dress does not conform to sex-based stereotypes. People should be able to access healthcare and secure a roof over their heads without being subjected to sex discrimination.  All persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation.</blockquote>
Biden signed another executive order that forced the U.S. to rejoin the Paris Agreement, a move that was quickly slammed by Heritage Foundation Senior Advisor Mike Howell, who <a href="https://www.heritage.org/progressivism/commentary/bidens-radical-agenda-ensures-weaker-poorer-more-divided-america">wrote</a>:
<blockquote>That will be cheered by environmental alarmists and those who envision a world with the United States subservient to international organizations as their preferred model. 
The Paris agreement was—and always has been—a sham. And it’s an expensive sham for Americans, <a href="https://www.heritage.org/environment/commentary/staying-paris-agreement-would-have-cost-families-20k">projected to cost</a> 400,000 jobs, an average income loss of more than $20,000 for families of four, and a $2.5 trillion hit to the nation’s gross domestic product.</blockquote>
Biden also axed the Keystone XL pipeline, an energy project that was beneficial for the United States and quickly triggered negative reactions from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/01/20/canadian-pm-trudeau-disappointed-at-biden-plan-to-dash-keystone-xl/?utm_source=NYPTwitter&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_medium=SocialFlow">said</a> that he was &#8220;disappointed.&#8221;
Biden also canceled the Trump administration&#8217;s 1776 Commission, which sought to undue damage in from propaganda like The New York Times&#8217; <a href="https://www.heritage.org/american-founders/commentary/pulitzer-overlooks-egregious-errors-award-prize-new-york-times-fatally">flawed</a> &#8220;1619 Project&#8221; and to promote patriotism.
Victor Davis Hanson, who was on the commission, wrote the following about it:
<blockquote>The unanimously approved conclusions focused on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the historical challenges to these founding documents, and the need for civic renewal. The 16-member commission was diverse in the widest sense of the word. It included historians, lawyers, academics, scholars, authors, former elected officials, and former public servants.
Whether because the report was issued by a Donald Trump-appointed commission, or because the conclusions questioned the controversial and flawed New York Times-sponsored 1619 Project, the Left almost immediately criticized it.</blockquote>
Biden also signed a slew of orders related to immigration, including eliminating the Trump administration&#8217;s travel ban from areas that are known terrorist hotspots, eliminating construction of effective border barriers on the southern border, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/politics/executive-actions-biden/index.html">extending</a> deferrals for deportations, undoing Trump&#8217;s expansion of immigration enforcement inside the U.S., and providing protections for DACA recipients. Biden also signed an Executive Order that requires non-citizens to be counted in the Census.
Former Trump administration senior adviser Stephen Miller responded to the moves by writing on Twitter: &#8220;Today, @POTUS pledged to be a president for all Americans. It’s unclear how all Americans are served by opening travel from terror hot spots, proposing a giant amnesty, or halting the installation of security barriers along the Southwest border.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Today, <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> pledged to be a president for all Americans. It’s unclear how all Americans are served by opening travel from terror hot spots, proposing a giant amnesty, or halting the installation of security barriers along the Southwest border.
&mdash; Stephen Miller (@StephenM) <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenM/status/1351990081763028994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
CNN noted that Biden also launched a 100-day mask mandate that requires people to wear masks on federal property, which is something that Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-does-not-wear-mask-at-lincoln-memorial-after-signing-mandate">appeared to violate</a> last night while at the Lincoln Memorial.
Biden also stopped the U.S. from withdrawing from the World Health Organization after the Trump administration moved to leave the WHO last year following its highly controversial handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden also created a &#8220;COVID-19 Response Coordinator,&#8221; which is something that the Trump administration also essentially had on their Coronavirus Task Force. Biden also extended a pause on student loan payments and extended a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures until at least March 31.
CNN added that Biden also signed a Executive Order that &#8220;requires executive branch appointees to sign an ethics pledge barring them from acting in personal interest and requiring them to uphold the independence of the Department of Justice.&#8221; The order comes as Biden&#8217;s son, Hunter Biden, is under federal criminal investigation over his business dealings.

Joe Biden Is Sworn In As 46th President Of The United States

Biden Signs 17 Executive Orders On First Day In Office, Includes Controversial Actions

Keystone XL

World Health Organization

Incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain vowed Saturday that President-elect Joe Biden will take “decisive action” on four different crises affecting the country during his first ten days in office.
In a <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1350548110896984064/photo/1">memo</a> to incoming senior White House staff, Klain identified the four crises as “the COVID-19 crisis, the resulting economic crisis, the climate crisis, and a racial equity crisis,” and promised Biden would take executive actions to address them.
Some of Biden’s Day-One actions will include reversing the Trump administration’s ban on travel from certain Muslim-majority countries, rejoining the Paris Agreement, extending eviction protections, and launching a “100 Day Masking Challenge.” Klain said the so-called challenge will be accompanied by a mask mandate for people on federal property and for people engaging in interstate travel. (Biden <a href="https://www.wcvb.com/article/biden-says-hell-mandate-masks-on-interstate-travel-for-planes-trains-and-buses/34908782#">announced</a> back in December that he’d require masks on planes, trains, and buses traveling between states).
The Biden administration will also extend a pause on federal student loan payments and interest and prevent interest from accruing for millions of borrowers, a policy first pursued by the Trump administration. The current student loan payment freeze is set to expire at the end of January. It’s not clear how long Biden wants to postpone payments.
Klain said that on the day after the inauguration, Biden will sign executive orders related to COVID-19 testing and also sign orders related to unspecified worker protections and public health standards. Then on January 22, wrote Klain, Biden plans to “direct his cabinet agencies” to take unspecified “economic relief” actions for families.
Other actions Biden plans to take in his first ten days include: Taking “significant early actions to advance equity and support communities of color and other underserved communities,” taking an unspecified action toward “reforming our criminal justice system,” and signing climate change-related executive actions.
The memo was light on details but said more would be available in coming days.
Earlier this week, Biden <a href="https://buildbackbetter.gov/speeches/remarks-as-prepared-for-delivery-by-president-elect-joe-biden-on-the-american-rescue-plan-and-build-back-better-recovery-plan-in-wilmington-delaware/">announced</a> that he wants Congress to pass a $1,400 boost in direct relief stimulus checks and increase the unemployment supplement to $400 per week (up from $300 per week under the Trump administration). He also wants to extend those benefits, which expire in March, until the end of September, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/14/biden-unemployment-plan-400-boost-extra-benefits-for-six-months.html">reports</a> CNBC.
According to <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/biden-to-announce-covid-relief-effort-focused-on-mass-vaccination-plan-economy/">National Review</a>, Biden’s plan for Congress would cost about $1.9 trillion, which would include $400 billion for pandemic management, and $350 billion for state and local governments, as well as tribal governments. The proposal would also increase the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 per hour, to $15 per hour.
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/01/15/biden-stimulus-gop/">reports</a> that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had not commented on Biden’s relief plan as of Friday afternoon, but that a growing number of Republican senators were voicing opposition to it.
“We cannot simply throw massive spending at this with no accountability to the current and future American taxpayer,” Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) said in a statement.

President-Elect Joe Biden Delivers Remarks On Pro-Trump Mob Storming Capitol

Team Biden Vows ‘Decisive Action’ On ‘Four Crises’ In First Ten Days

COVID

Face Masks

On Monday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) taking heed of Joe Biden’s public pronouncements indicating he would <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-climate-climate-change-paris-france-6e21f86b5c4affaee8ee04e870a1ea6c">rejoin the Paris Agreement</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/09/biden-foreign-policy-iran/">rejoin the Iran nuclear deal</a>, sent a <a href="https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press_release&amp;id=5532">letter</a> to President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that would head Biden off at the pass, asking Trump to submit the deals as treaties, thus forcing any such actions by Biden to be submitted to the Senate for approval.
Cruz noted, “Multiple previous administrations &#8230; have undermined the Senate&#8217;s constitutional role by negotiating significant international agreements and then refusing to submit them to the Senate for its advice and consent. Most recently — and most egregiously —President Obama refused to submit either the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the &#8216;Iran Deal&#8217;), or the United Nations Paris Climate Agreement (the &#8216;Paris Agreement&#8217;) to the Senate as a treaty.”
“The only reason the Obama administration refused to submit these agreements to the Senate as treaties was that it knew that the agreements were deeply unpopular and doomed for defeat,” Cruz wrote, adding, “The Obama administration attempted to justify its decision to sideline the Senate by structuring the agreements in a way that allowed it to publicly assert that the agreements were not legally binding and therefore not treaties subject to the Senate&#8217;s advice and consent…”
Cruz concluded, “Your administration has rightly changed course as a matter of substantive policy by withdrawing from both the Iran Deal and the Paris Agreement. This was a great accomplishment for the American people. I urge you now also to remedy the harm done to the balance of powers by submitting the Iran Deal and the Paris Agreement to the Senate as treaties. Only by submitting them to the Senate will the Senate be able to satisfy its constitutional role to provide advice and consent in the event any future administration attempts to revive these dangerous deals.”
Full text of the letter below:
<blockquote>The Constitution grants the Senate a significant, unique, and indispensable role in developing American foreign policy through treaties. Specifically, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, provides that the President &#8220;shall have the Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur.&#8221;
Multiple previous administrations, however, have undermined the Senate&#8217;s constitutional role by negotiating significant international agreements and then refusing to submit them to the Senate for its advice and consent. Most recently-and most egregiously-President Obama refused to submit either the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the &#8220;Iran Deal&#8221;), or the United Nations Paris Climate Agreement (the &#8220;Paris Agreement&#8221;) to the Senate as a treaty.
These agreements could and should have been submitted as treaties given their sweeping scope and immense implications for American foreign and domestic policy. The Paris Agreement, for example, was lauded as the &#8220;most ambitious climate change agreement in history.&#8221; The Iran Deal, meanwhile, was situated as &#8220;the most consequential foreign policy debate that our country has had since the invasion of Iraq.&#8221;
That is why numerous Senators demanded that the administration submit both agreements to the Senate for advice and consent. Thirty-four Senators co-sponsored a resolution &#8220;expressing the sense of Congress that the President should submit the Paris climate change agreement to the Senate for its advice and consent.&#8221; Because Obama refused to do so, Senator Risch, the current Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, later issued a joint statement with Senator Crapo stating: &#8220;There are many reasons the Paris Climate Accord was a bad deal. Not the least of which is that it was agreed to unilaterally by the Obama Administration, violating our Constitution&#8217;s requirement that all treaties be passed by a two-thirds vote in the Senate.&#8221; Similarly, in an interview addressing the Iran Deal, Senator Risch stated that President Obama &#8220;needed to submit it to the United States Senate for ratification under the Constitution. It was a treaty.&#8221;
The only reason the Obama administration refused to submit these agreements to the Senate as treaties was that it knew that the agreements were deeply unpopular and doomed for defeat.
Then-Secretary of State John Kerry was shockingly candid about this end-run around the Senate&#8217;s Constitutional prerogative. When asked by Rep. Ribble of Wisconsin why the deal was not considered a treaty, he replied: &#8220;I spent quite a few years trying to get a lot of treaties through the United States Senate, and frankly, it&#8217;s become physically impossible. That&#8217;s why. Because you can&#8217;t pass a treaty anymore.&#8221; The same was true for the Paris Agreement. The New York Times in 2014 reported that &#8220;the Obama administration is working to forge a sweeping international climate change agreement to compel nations to cut their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions, but without ratification from Congress&#8221; because there was &#8220;no chance&#8221; that the &#8220;Senate [would] ratify a climate change treaty in the near future.&#8221;
The Obama administration attempted to justify its decision to sideline the Senate by structuring the agreements in a way that allowed it to publicly assert that the agreements were not legally binding and therefore not treaties subject to the Senate&#8217;s advice and consent-even though an Obama-era State Department legal memorandum determined the Paris Agreement &#8220;does contain legally binding obligations that would apply to the United States,&#8221; and then-President Obama himself contextualized the Iran Deal by saying that &#8220;[a]s was true in previous treaties, it does not resolve all problems.&#8221; But this strategic restructuring is itself a significant threat to the separation of powers and the Senate&#8217;s constitutional role in foreign affairs. As the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service wrote in a canonical 2001 study of the treaty power prepared for the United States Committee on Foreign Relations:
The main threat of erosion of the Senate treaty power comes not from the international agreements that are submitted as treaties, however, but from the many international agreements that are not submitted for its consent. In addition to concluding hundreds of executive agreements, Presidents have made important commitments that they considered politically binding but not legally binding. Maintaining the Senate role in treaties requires overseeing all international agreements to assure that agreements that should be treaties are submitted to the Senate.
Simply put, a President does great damage to the separation of powers if he arrogates the treaty power entirely to himself by altering the terms of an agreement so that most or all of the provisions are not legally binding, even as they politically and practically commit United States to a course of action opposed by Congress. See 11 F.A.M. § 723 (listing criteria for determining whether an agreement is a treaty, including &#8220;the extent to which the agreement involves commitments or risks affecting the nation as a whole&#8221; and the &#8220;preference of the Congress&#8221;).
Your administration has rightly changed course as a matter of substantive policy by withdrawing from both the Iran Deal and the Paris Agreement. This was a great accomplishment for the American people.
I urge you now also to remedy the harm done to the balance of powers by submitting the Iran Deal and the Paris Agreement to the Senate as treaties. Only by submitting them to the Senate will the Senate be able to satisfy its constitutional role to provide advice and consent in the event any future administration attempts to revive these dangerous deals.</blockquote>

Cruz Biden

Cruz, Preserving Trump Legacy, Heads Off Biden At The Pass On Rejoining Iran Deal, Paris Climate Accords

Donald Trump

Iran Nuclear Deal

Ted Cruz

French authorities detained hundreds Saturday as the &#8220;yellow vest&#8221; protests, aimed at French President Emmanuel Macron&#8217;s economic and climate change policies, entered their fourth weekend.
<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46492070">The BBC reports</a> that at least 1,000 people have been taken into custody across France. Dozens were injured &#8212; including a handful of police officers &#8212; in demonstrations that drew more than 10,000 people to Paris&#8217; city center, and more than 100,000 to the streets across France, including in &#8220;Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille and Grenoble.&#8221;
A shocking video taken from above the Paris protests shows the scope of the demonstrations &#8212; and the devastation left in their wake.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Here is a bird&#8217;s-eye view of the riots in Paris. <a href="https://t.co/Fjy939UsnH">pic.twitter.com/Fjy939UsnH</a>
&#8212; Anna Paulina (@realannapaulina) <a href="https://twitter.com/realannapaulina/status/1071523010543280128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
The French government reportedly dispatched more than 90,000 law enforcement officers nationwide, with 8,000 dispatched in Paris alone. Police used heavy armored vehicles to control the crowd which stayed contained, again, primarily to the Champs-Elysées, Paris&#8217; primary thoroughfare.
Freelance reporter Clement Lanot captured footage of small tanks deployed to protect major tourist attractions like the Arc de Triomphe, the massive Louvre museum, and the Musee D&#8217;Orsay, which hosts some of the world&#8217;s more precious Impressionist works.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
PARIS <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/8decembre?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#8decembre</a> &#8211; Les blindés de la Gendarmerie sont prêt à intervenir sur les <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChampsElys%C3%A9es?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ChampsElysées</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GiletsJaunes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GiletsJaunes</a> <a href="https://t.co/vzfu76q6ly">pic.twitter.com/vzfu76q6ly</a>
&#8212; Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClementLanot/status/1071307683498745856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
PARIS <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/8decembre?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#8decembre</a> &#8211; Les blindés de la gendarmerie à nouveau en action contre des barricades <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GiletsJaunes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GiletsJaunes</a> <a href="https://t.co/ymKQZ9Nhx1">pic.twitter.com/ymKQZ9Nhx1</a>
&#8212; Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClementLanot/status/1071405452842450944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
French authorities said Saturday that they felt confident the protests were contained and, indeed, the protests in Paris were smaller than they have been in previous weeks &#8212; thanks, likely, to concessions made on the part of Macron&#8217;s government to scale back and indefinitely delay gasoline taxes designed to curb French reliance on fossil fuels by pricing domestic fuel users out of the market.
But the demonstrations are spreading as concerned French citizens share their issues with Macron&#8217;s government on social media. This week, more people demonstrated in towns and cities outside of Paris, and protests spread all the way to Belgium and the Netherlands, <a href="https://www.apnews.com/c0afb781cc074df88e40f1a2bd61ed92">according to the Associated Press</a>.
&#8220;Belgian police fired tear gas and water cannons at yellow-vested protesters calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Charles Michel after they tried to breach a riot barricade, as the movement that started in France made its mark Saturday in Belgium and the Netherlands,&#8221; the AP reported.
In those countries, though, it&#8217;s not immediately clear to the government what is sparking the protests. Unlike in France, the Belgians and the Dutch aren&#8217;t about to be hit with new fuel surcharges in order to handle &#8220;climate change.&#8221; But the AP does report that there&#8217;s a growing displeasure with what protesters consider &#8220;out-of-touch&#8221; centralized government that continues to tax and regulate ordinary citizens without concern for the financial burden ordinary Belgians and Dutch shoulder.
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to address the nation this week, as his approval rating hovers just above 20%. The appearance will mark the first time Macron has said anything publicly since the riots began; the president has preferred to leave communication with the crowds to his prime minister, something that&#8217;s only thrown fuel on the fire.
There&#8217;s not much more Macron can do, however, without cutting French welfare benefits. Even if the government lowers taxes, or rolls back more surcharges, it&#8217;s in danger of falling into dire financial straits because of the cost of sustaining France&#8217;s massive welfare state. And Macron cannot raise taxes on the rich, either; his predecessor, Francois Hollande, instituted a &#8220;millionaire&#8217;s tax&#8221; that drove high-income earners out of France altogether. Macron campaigned on a pledge to repeal the &#8220;millionaire&#8217;s tax.&#8221;
The protesters say they&#8217;re not giving up, however, and claim they&#8217;re planning demonstrations all the way through the winter.

WATCH: Shocking Video Shows ‘Yellow Vest’ Riots EXPLODING Across Central Paris

Emmanuel Macron

Paris

When President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accords, liberals went ape nuts. America, they said, had just signed the death decree of the world. Al Gore moved to the South Pole and built an igloo.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the end of the world. Instead of America causing irreversible global warming, harmful greenhouses gases that some scientists say causes climate change actually decreased during Trump&#8217;s first year in office, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported.
The <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/data-shows-decrease-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-during-trumps-first-year-office">EPA report</a> showed &#8220;overall decreases across sectors and that total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions reported decreased by 2.7 percent from 2016 to 2017.&#8221;
&#8220;Thanks to President Trump&#8217;s regulatory reform agenda, the economy is booming, energy production is surging, and we are reducing greenhouse gas emissions from major industrial sources,&#8221; said EPA acting administrator Andrew Wheeler. &#8220;These achievements flow largely from technological breakthroughs in the private sector, not the heavy hand of government. The Trump Administration has proven that federal regulations are not necessary to drive CO2 reductions. While many around the world are talking about reducing greenhouse gases, the U.S. continues to deliver, and today&#8217;s report is further evidence of our action-oriented approach.&#8221;
The report also said emissions from larger power plants dropped 4.5% since 2016.
Gore said in June 2017 that Trump&#8217;s decision to withdraw from the Accords was a threat to humanity. &#8220;I think it was reckless,&#8221; Gore said. &#8220;I think it was indefensible. It undermines America&#8217;s standing in the world. It threatens the ability of humanity to solve the climate crisis in time.&#8221;
But as it turns out, the U.S. is still leading the world, even without the Accords, which was non-binding and lacked an enforcement clause to allow the United Nations to levy penalties on any nation that failed to meet environmental benchmarks.
Another report released in September by the U.S. Energy Information Administration found that carbon emissions from major energy sources dropped almost 1% overall, the lowest level for U.S. emissions since 1993.
And according to the June 2018 BP Statistical Review of Global Energy, the United States led the world last year in reducing carbon emissions across the board &#8212; despite Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accords in 2017.
American Enterprise Institute (AEI) reports that U.S. carbon emissions declined by more than 42 million tons in 2017, far ahead of the next most environmentally-friendly country, Ukraine, where emissions declined by 20 million tons. Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Japan also saw major declines in how much carbon dioxide each nation emits into the atmosphere.
Strangely enough, Canada, Spain, the European Union, and China &#8212; all signatories to the Accords negotiated by the United Nations &#8212; saw significant increases in carbon dioxide emissions. China released 120 million more tons of carbon dioxide into the air in 2017 than in 2016. The EU made up for America&#8217;s decline, releasing 40 million more tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
AEI credits the use of natural gas and the practice of fracking with the U.S.&#8217;s carbon emissions decrease, even though environmentalists don&#8217;t consider natural gas as an &#8220;acceptable&#8221; alternative energy source akin to wind power or solar.

AL GORE WAS WRONG (AGAIN): Greenhouse Gas Emissions Dropped Nearly 3% In Trump’s First Year

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Global Warming

In an attempt to circumvent President Trump&#8217;s decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord on Climate change, China is appealing to various states in the U.S. to ignore Trump and play along with climate change activists.
<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-engages-california-on-climate-after-trumps-paris-snub-1497178806">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported that last week California Gov. Jerry Brown, a climate change zealot, was welcomed to Beijing to meet with President Xi Jinping. Xie Zhenhua, China&#8217;s special envoy for climate change, complained to Brown regarding Trump&#8217;s decision, &#8220;I am so deeply disappointed.&#8221;
The Journal acknowledged, &#8220;Since Mr. Trump&#8217;s decision, a coalition of <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-change-u-s-states-cities-vow-to-press-ahead-1496395806">a dozen U.S. states, including California, have committed to uphold America&#8217;s pledge</a> to cut emissions 26% to 28% compared with 2005 levels.&#8221; Those states include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-change-u-s-states-cities-vow-to-press-ahead-1496395806">According</a> to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, twenty states and Washington, D.C., have adopted their own greenhouse gas emission targets.
Brown announced last week that California would coordinate emission-reduction programs with China&#8217;s Ministry of Science and Technology and create a joint climate research institute between California and China&#8217;s Tsinghua University.
Last Monday, the top U.S. diplomat in China, David Rank, announced he was quitting to protest Trump&#8217;s climate position.
Zhou Dadi, vice president of the Beijing-backed Energy Research Institute, admitted China could induce states to follow its lead because of the way the American system works, adding, &#8220;In the United States, local governments can play a more important role.&#8221;

China Attempts End-Run Around Trump On Paris Accord By Appealing To U.S. States

China

Jerry Brown

President Donald Trump&#8217;s decision to pull out of the Paris Accord last week, a non-binding treaty to fight climate change that would have had little effect on the climate but much on the U.S. economy, has earned him praise from most people on the conservative side of the aisle. Likewise, it has rendered the Left apoplectic. As Aaron Bandler <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/17064/11-most-over-top-responses-trumps-climate-accord-aaron-bandler">wrote</a> in the Daily Wire last Thursday, the Left&#8217;s responses were outrageous across the board, as would have expected.
However, a surprising reaction came from former actor, bodybuilder and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who posted a video via ATTN, calling on people to &#8220;rise up&#8221; against Trump and the Paris decision.
Schwarzenegger <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/02/politics/arnold-schwarzenegger-paris-agreement/index.html">stated</a>:
&#8220;One man cannot destroy our progress, one man can&#8217;t stop our clean energy revolution, one man can&#8217;t go back in time&#8230; the people will rise up. Local and state governments will rise up&#8230; and fill the void you are creating. We need to do it ourselves.&#8221;
It is interesting to note that Schwarzenegger pushed the global warming agenda throughout his progressive tenure as California&#8217;s Republican governor, which proved to be an abysmal failure and ended with an approval rating in the mid-20s. The state was overly taxed; its budgets were blown, and little progress was made to show for it, as noted by <a href="http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2028599,00.html">Time</a>. Schwarzenegger&#8217;s governorship essentially turned California into a one-party state, with the state even having a U.S. Senate election this past November between two Democrats.
This should have compelled Schwarzenegger to assess why his governorship failed, and why progressivism doesn&#8217;t work. But instead, he bashes Trump much of the time, and even endorsed fellow-RINO John Kasich to primary Trump in 2020. Schwarzenegger also <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2017/02/02/arnold-schwarzenegger-hits-back-trump-switch-jobs/">volunteered</a> to switch jobs with Trump, so &#8220;people can sleep better at night.&#8221;
However, many who were skeptical of voting for Trump sleep well witnessing the good things Trump has done as President. True, there have been some negatives, such as the rollout of his Obamacare repeal and his first budget, but not many people who voted for him regret Trump winning the presidency. In fact, in <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/15669/poll-trump-would-beat-hillary-popular-vote-if-they-james-barrett">April</a>, a Washington Post/ABC News poll calculated the results of a hypothetical rematch of the 2016 election. In the rematch, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the popular vote, 43-40, as well as the Electoral College, a feat he failed to achieve in November.
This also seems to imply that many people don&#8217;t believe that Trump will leave the country worse off when he leaves the presidency than when he came in.
But the same can&#8217;t be said for Schwarzenegger, and the proof is there; the odds of a Republican winning a national election in California are close to none. This is clearly, in part, due to his tenure as governor.
Trump made the correct decision as President of the United States, as he has a responsibility to his country and its people. Schwarzenegger had that same responsibility to the people of California as its governor, and he failed miserably.
Maybe Schwarzenegger should rethink his accusation of Trump destroying anything, and his own ideology and its flaws. And maybe if more people like him did some introspection, we could all sleep better at night.

Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Bashes Paris Withdrawal, Forgets His Progressive Agenda Destroyed California

Arnold Schwarzenegger

WARNING: This article features a graphic image of an aborted infant.
Thursday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) issued a scathing rebuke of President Trump&#8217;s decision to pull out of the Paris Accord, saying it &#8220;dishonors&#8221; God. 
<blockquote>
&#8230; we had a moral responsibility to be good stewards of God&#8217;s creation, and in doing so, we must pay special attention to the needs of the poor. They saw it as an environmental justice issue as well, the evangelical community.
When the Pope went to the White House, he talked about the danger of air pollution &#8230; and just last week, the Pope met with President Trump and gave him a copy of his encyclical [names encyclical], which made the case for strong, urgent action to halt the climate crisis. The Pope wrote: &#8220;the climate is a common good belonging to all, and meant for all.&#8221;
The Bible tells us that to minister to the needs of God&#8217;s creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us &#8212; and that is just what we are doing by walking away from this Accord.
The question I have for Donald Trump as a mother and a grandmother of five and a grandmother of nine, how is he ever going to explain to his grandchildren what he did to the air they breathe &#8212; assuming they breathe air.
</blockquote>
<iframe loading="lazy" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="385" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QzQeiBp_QdE" width="720"></iframe>
Uh, ok. One has to wonder, if Nancy Pelosi believes &#8220;that to minister to the needs of God&#8217;s creation is an act of worship,&#8221; and to &#8220;ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us,&#8221; then how can she fully support this?
<div class="image"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" alt="Aborted Infant 10 Weeks" height="462" src="https://dw-wp-dev.imgix.net/2019/09/1496525573361.jpeg" width="615" /></div>
The above photo is an aborted infant at just 10 weeks gestation. The image was obtained from the <a href="http://www.abortionno.org/">Center for Bioethical Reform</a>.
Rep. Pelosi has a 100% rating from the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL), meaning she is adamantly pro-choice. She also <a href="http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2003/roll242.xml&#8203;">voted against</a> the 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which passed both the House and Senate, making illegal the barbaric practice of Intact Dilation and Extraction (partial-birth abortion).
Pelosi&#8217;s full-throated support of abortion indeed dishonors the God who made us.

1496525573361

Nancy Pelosi: Trump Leaving Paris Accord ‘Dishonor’ To God

Abortion

Nancy Pelosi

On Friday, former New York mayor billionaire Michael Bloomberg <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/02/news/michael-bloomberg-trump-paris-climate/index.html">announced</a> that his Bloomberg Philanthropies would cobble together $15 million along with other entities to &#8220;support the operations&#8221; of the United Nation&#8217;s Framework Convention on Climate Change to cover the funds lost by President Trump&#8217;s decision to exit the Paris Accord.
A statement from Bloomberg Philanthropies read,&#8221;The pledge aims to fill a significant funding gap that comes as a result of President Donald Trump&#8217;s announced withdrawal from the Paris agreement and proposed steep budget cuts for international programs, including on climate.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/michael-bloomberg/">Forbes estimates</a> Bloomberg is worth $50 billion.
Patricia Espinosa, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said the funding offered by Bloomberg is &#8220;crucial,&#8221; adding, &#8220;In order to achieve Paris in full and deliver a low emissions, resilient and more secure future for every man, woman and child, it is very encouraging to see that all actors reaffirm their willingness to work together.&#8221; Bloomberg Philanthropies&#8217; <a href="https://annualreport.bloomberg.org/environment/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=ar17_environment">Clean Energy initiative</a> has funded efforts to take coal-fired power plants offline.
Bloomberg added that mayors, governors, and business leaders &#8220;from both political parties are signing onto a statement of support that we will submit to the U.N. &#8212; and together, we will reach the emission reduction goals the U.S. made in Paris in 2015.&#8221;
On Thursday, Bloomberg tweeted:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
We can&#8217;t wait for national governments to act on climate change. For solutions, look to cities. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClimateofHope?src=hash">#ClimateofHope</a> <a href="https://t.co/WEey09tsMW">https://t.co/WEey09tsMW</a>
&#8212; Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeBloomberg/status/870272001038049281">June 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>

Bloomberg: I’ll Help Give $15 Million Back To U.N. Because Trump Pulled Out Of Paris Accord

Michael Bloomberg

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