Obama looks to use pope as leverage in climate fight

Pope Francis’ visit to Washington next week will give President Obama a real chance to breathe new life into a climate change agenda that faces several obstacles, including growing opposition in Congress and doubts from foreign leaders that a deal on global warming can be reached at the end of the year in Paris.

 

The pope has been a prominent supporter of actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that many scientists blame for causing the Earth’s temperature to rise, causing more floods, droughts and other catastrophes.

 

Francis has framed climate change as a moral issue. Obama will likely use the pope’s time in Washington to draw attention to the challenge of global warming, and the need for putting away political differences in support of actions to reduce emissions.

 

The pope will also address a joint session of Congress following talks at the White House. In that address, he is expected to underscore points he made earlier this year in issuing his climate change “encyclical,” which outlines his thoughts on the issue of global warming. In the encyclical, he advocates for reductions in manmade emissions from fossil fuels.

 

Republicans have been nearly unanimous in opposing Pope Francis’ encyclical on the issue, and many in the Republican leadership say the pope shouldn’t get involved in an issue that they see as primarily political. At the same time, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is readying a major legislative push to attempt to derail the centerpiece of President Obama’s climate agenda, regulations for power plants called the Clean Power Plan. The plan places states on the hook to reduce emissions by a third over the next 15 years.

 

Read More: Obama looks to use pope as leverage in climate fight | Washington Examiner