PRESS RELEASE – Washington, DC – January 21, 2021

U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R. CO-03) released the following statement after introducing the Paris Agreement Constitutional Treaty Act: 

“My bill prohibits Congress from spending a single penny on the Paris Agreement until this treaty is ratified by the United States Senate. Joe Biden took an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution. If he wants to keep it, he must transmit the job-killing Paris Agreement to the U.S. Senate for ratification. Unilaterally entering the Paris Agreement was wrong in 2016 and its wrong now. Responsible energy production supports more than 230,000 Colorado jobs. The Paris Agreement puts these jobs at risk and will increase energy costs. $4 per gallon gasoline, here we go again!”  

Background: 

Today, U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R. – CO-03) introduced her first three bills as a Member of Congress.

H.R. 376, the Paris Agreement Constitutional Treaty Act, blocks all actions and funds for carrying out the Paris Agreement until a treaty is passed by the U.S. Senate.

Original cosponsors that joined Representative Boebert in introducing her bill include Representatives: Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Mo Brooks (AL-05), Tedd Budd (NC-13), Ben Cline (VA-06), Bob Good VA-05), Yvette Herrell (NM-02), Doug LaMalfa (R. -CA-01), Mary Miller (IL-15), Alex Mooney (WV-02), August Pfluger TX-11), Randy Weber (TX-14).

Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, the Treaty Clause, grants the President the “power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur.”

It is clear that the Paris Agreement is a treaty, not an administrative agreement as falsely claimed.

Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. formally exited the job-killing Paris Agreement on November 4, 2020.

Implementing the Paris Agreement could destroy up to 2.7 million jobs in the United States by 2025 alone.

Yesterday, President Biden signed the instrument to rejoin the Paris Agreement and announced and the U.S. will officially become a Party of the Paris Agreement in 30 days.

Simply put, the Paris Climate Agreement places an economic handicap on the U.S. for generations to come while yielding no discernible benefit to the environment worldwide. It allows bad actors, like China, to keep increasing CO₂ emissions until at least 2030 with no penalty.

Compliance with this unconstitutional agreement will also ensure that the U.S. increases dependence on foreign countries for our energy needs – a huge national security risk. The U.S. has the highest regulatory standards in the world and shifting production to hostile nations is not only bad foreign policy, its bad environmental policy as these countries don’t operate under the same regulations.

American ingenuity and innovation have allowed the U.S. to become a global leader in reducing carbon emissions. Unshackling job creators by reducing overreaching regulatory burdens has resulted in voluntary actions and technological advancements that have yielded significant benefits for the environment. That is the path America should be pursuing, not unrealistic and unattainable climate goals not based in science that yield no benefit.