DeFazio: U.S. Must Regulate Carbon Emissions And 'Force' Other Countries

CNS News -- Blasting Republican "climate-change deniers" as well as "blathering idiots on talk shows" who joked about the "Arctic vortex," Rep. Peter DeFazio urged Congress to tackle climate change in 2014. He called it one of the "biggest challenges of our time."

He wants the Obama administration to regulate carbon emissions as pollution. And "even if we take strong measures here, we've got to force those measures on other countries," he said in a five-minute speech on the House floor Wednesday.

"Now how are we going to get China and other countries lined up on this?" DeFazio asked. He called trade agreements a "strong tool" to demand reductions:

"We can't put U.S. manufacturers at a disadvantage when they are dealing with climate change issues and carbon dioxide emissions and the Chinese aren't, 'cause we live, unfortunately, on the same planet as the Chinese and they're destroying the world's climate very, very quickly. So even if we take strong measures here, we've got to force those measures on other countries," he said.

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Blog author's comments - DeFazio said..."We can’t put U.S. manufacturers at a disadvantage when they are dealing with climate change issues and carbon dioxide emissions and the Chinese aren’t, ’cause we live, unfortunately, on the same planet as the Chinese and they’re destroying the world’s climate very, very quickly. So even if we take strong measures here, we’ve got to force those measures on other countries,” he said.

And how are we going to 'force' these measures on any other country, much less China? Obama and the Democrats have lowered our standing in the world to a point that what America says no longer matters. I don't believe China and many other countries are worried about the United States attempting to force them to take the same 'measures' as the majority of the left wants.