HECTORVILLE — It was a good morning for U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe.
As he toured an oil pipeline construction site south of Tulsa — “visible evidence,” he said, “the war on fossil fuels is over” — word reached him early Thursday that President Donald Trump is taking the United States out of the Paris climate agreement.
Both the pipeline and Trump’s decision counted as personal and political victories for Inhofe.
Perpetually, but especially under President Barack Obama’s administration, he has chafed under restrictions and regulations on all phases of the oil and gas industry.
From the enormity of climate change to the minutia of the federally mandated protections for endangered species such as the American burying beetle, Inhofe seemed to view Obama’s policies as foolishness bordering on treason.
People are also reading…
“We knew President Obama spent $120 billion on global warming projects that were never authorized,” Inhofe said Thursday.
Since entering Congress as a U.S. representative in 1986, Inhofe has been one of the oil and gas industry’s most intractable allies. According to the watchdog Center for Responsive Politics, Inhofe’s campaign accounts have received $3 million over the years from the energy and natural resources sector, including $1.8 million from oil and gas.
Inhofe has steadfastly opposed U.S. participation in international climate or environment agreements, maintaining they are one-sided and handicap American economic interests. He advised Trump to back out of the Paris agreement Obama signed less than a year ago.
The notion that doing so would isolate the U.S., or reduce its international influence on environmental affairs, is unfounded, Inhofe said.
He said the agreement includes unattainable environmental standards that, while not legally binding, would nevertheless lead to lawsuits from parties insisting they are.
Inhofe also asserted most of the countries signing the agreement only did so “because of the money they think they’re going to get” from the U.S., Western Europe and Japan.
“If we don’t pull out we could have endless lawsuits,” Inhofe said.
He said being one of only three nations, along with Syria and Nicaragua, to opt out of the agreement does not jeopardize U.S. influence.
“They like to say that, but a lot of countries signed but didn’t make any commitments,” Inhofe said. “The British are an example.”
Britain ratified the Paris accord last fall with no objections from Parliament, but Prime Minister Theresa May has been unenthusiastic about it. She is one of few foreign heads of state not to criticize Trump’s decision.
Inhofe said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and others are wrong to think rejecting the agreement will exclude the U.S. from further international climate talks. He said the U.S. will continue attending the annual United Nations “conference of the parties” on climate change.
“We’ll be out of the agreement — kind of a gentleman’s agreement — but we remain in the conference of parties. We will continue to be part of (the discussion),” he said.
