http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/climate-announcement-obama-gets-win-maybe-second-term-legacy-n246876With Climate Announcement, Obama Gets a Win -- and Maybe A Second-Term Legacy
By Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann
resident Obama’s second term in office has been lacking in big achievements. Background checks for gun purchases didn’t make it through the Senate. Immigration reform isn’t becoming law this Congress, though the president is expected to take executive action on this front. And just last week, Obama’s party took a major drubbing in the midterm elections. But there is one potential second-term achievement that’s taking more and more shape -- on climate change. The big question, however, is whether Obama can keep it. Late last night, the United States and China announced they had “negotiated a sweeping agreement to cut emissions drastically by 2030, a deal that President Barack Obama called a ‘major milestone’ Wednesday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing,” NBC News reports. This breakthrough follows the proposal Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency unveiled in June requiring existing power plants to cut their carbon emissions by 30% from 2005 levels by 2030. But as we mentioned yesterday, next year’s GOP-controlled Congress will seek to undermine those EPA rules. As the New York Times adds, “While the agreement with China needs no congressional ratification, lawmakers could try to roll back Mr. Obama’s initiatives, undermining the United States’ ability to meet the new reduction targets.”
But these are unilateral actions that another president could reverse
Remember, Obama made combating climate change a big part of his second inaugural address. “We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations,” he said in that speech. Of course, it came after he disappointed supporters in his first term (no cap-and-trade bill through the Senate). And it’s important to point out that Obama’s second-term actions on the climate -- the EPA rules, the deal with China -- are unilateral actions that can be undone by another president. But make no mistake: This is Obama’s pet issue of his second term.
Democrats applaud the climate deal with China, Republicans criticize it
Democrats cheered the climate deal with China. "Now there is no longer an excuse for Congress to block action on climate change,” said outgoing Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA). “The biggest carbon polluter on our planet, China, has agreed to cut back on dangerous emissions, and now we should make sure all countries do their part because this is a threat to the people that we all represent." Republicans, meanwhile, panned it. "This unrealistic plan that the president would dump on his successor, would ensure higher utility rates and far fewer jobs," Senate Majority Leader-to-be Leader Mitch McConnell said. Of course, McConnell used those EPA regulations -- which would hurt Kentucky’s coal industry -- to his political advantage in his re-election bid. And climate change definitely wasn’t a political winner for Democrats in the midterm election (see: Steyer, Tom). Then again, our NBC/WSJ poll from back in June found 57% of Americans saying they would approve of a proposal requiring companies to reduce greenhouse gases that cause global warming, even if it would mean higher utility bills for consumers.
