Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s Opening Remarks.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy, presided over a hearing on the economic and environmental impacts of the international climate negotiations to be concluded in Paris this December.

The hearing featured testimony from Todd Stern, the lead U.S. negotiator for the Paris talks. For more information and video of Mr. Stern’s testimony, click here.

During the hearing, Barrasso questioned Mr. Stern about what a Paris agreement would look like and if it would be legally binding on the United States. To watch Senator Barrasso question Mr. Stern, click here.

Transcript of Senator Barrasso’s Opening Statement:

“Good afternoon. I would like to call this hearing to order, the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy and Environmental Policy.

“I would also like to welcome our Ranking Member, Senator Udall, and our guests today.

“Today, we are examining the objectives and the intentions of the administration’s international climate negotiations in Paris, as well as the potential ramifications for the United States.

“The International Climate Change Conference will take place from November 30 to December 11 in Paris this year.

“With this event happening in a matter of a little more than a month, I think it’s important that we examine what this administration plans to accomplish in Paris.

“So I am pleased to welcome our witness from the State Department, Mr. Todd Stern.

“He is the United States Special Envoy for Climate Change, and will be the lead negotiator for the Paris climate change conference.

“He has a unique perspective as to what it is that this administration is negotiating for in any climate change deal, and what any final deal may look like.

“So Mr. Stern, thank you very much for being with us today.

“While I support international dialogue on global environmental problems, I do have serious concerns about the impact any deal reached in Paris will have on the American economy, on our international priorities, and on our environmental goals.

“I am hearing from my constituents back home about their concerns.

“They’re concerned that the pledges that the president is committing the United States to will strengthen foreign economies at the expense of American workers, and will line the pockets of developing nations with millions of American taxpayer dollars.

“All this of this is being proposed at a time of scarce resources which are needed to strengthen our economy; to fend off threats to our nation’s security; and to address humanitarian crises abroad.

“Whatever deal is reached in the backrooms of the Paris Climate Change Conference, it has been telegraphed by this administration that the deal will be a calculated end run around Congress.

“Just like the Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, any agreement that commits our nation to targets or timetables must go through the process established by the founders of our Constitution.

“It must be submitted to the United States Senate for its advice and consent.

“The president has made clear that he doesn’t see it that way, as was the case with the Iranian nuclear deal.

“For that reason, we need to send a message to the nations that are partners with the president in any final deal, that beyond a shadow of a doubt, the Senate will not stand by any agreement that binds the American people to targets or timetables on emissions, without our advice and consent.

“The president’s joint announcement with China has sent a loud and clear signal that a Paris deal could be an economic and environmental loser for the American people.

“In November 2014, President Obama and the President of China made a joint announcement on targets to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions.

“President Obama pledged to reduce U.S. net greenhouse gases by 26-28 percent by 2025.

“China agreed to ‘peak’ its carbon dioxide emissions in 2030.

“This agreement forces Americans to drastically decrease our emissions immediately while China will be allowed to let their emissions continue to rise for the next 15 years.

“According to the Congressional Research Service, China has been the highest emitter of greenhouse gases across the globe since around 2007.

“Currently, China emits 23% of net greenhouse gases worldwide, while our nation’s share has declined to only13%.

“This is a terrible deal for Americans – but it is a great deal for the Chinese government and the Chinese economy.

“Now, I also want to address my concerns about the Administration’s $3 billion pledge to the Green Climate Fund.

“The American public does not support paying their hard earned taxpayer dollars into a slush fund that spends billions on international climate change programs in developing nations to address the impacts of extreme weather.

“The need for spending on natural disasters is down historically, while other international priorities have increased.

“According to the 2014 Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report released by Aon Benfield-‘Global natural disasters in 2014 combined to cause economic losses of $132 billion, 37 percent below the ten-year average of $211 billion.’

“With immediate global priorities such as the upheaval in the Middle East in Syria and Iraq to a resurgent Russia in Eastern Europe and abroad, we should be focusing our resources on countering global terrorist threats; on humanitarian assistance, on democracy promotion, and on embassy security measures.

“The only reason I can see that the administration wants to provide this funding is that there would be no deal without this wealth transfer to developing nations.

“Despite talk of American leadership bringing everyone to the table to save the planet, it’s apparently American taxpayer cash that will pay off developing nations to act.

“American taxpayer cash is the only green that the international bureaucrats in Paris seem to care about, and it is the only green that will result from any climate change agreement.

“Because after all is said and done, this deal won’t achieve the environmental gains that will be promised.

“In fact, the environment will be in worse shape.

“Nations like China that are the main emitters internationally are getting a pass on having to take any shared economic pain.

“If China doesn’t play a major role and contribute significantly, all that will result environmentally from Paris is hot air from bureaucrats and politicians over-promising and under-delivering in front of the cameras.

“There will be no temperature reductions. Meanwhile international priorities will go underfunded.

“So I have serious concerns about what will occur in Paris and ask that the members of this committee consider these concerns as we approach the climate change conference.”

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