Source: Guangming Daily, December 1, 2015 U.S. President Barack Obama’s term will end in 2016. He hoped to leave the U.S. climate policy, particularly the global agreement on emissions made at the climate summit in Paris, as his "political legacy." A Guangming Daily article asked whether this might be just an empty wish.
The article stated, “Although Obama is sparing no effort to promote America’s new emission reduction targets, opposition from the U.S. Congress continues unabated and may make Obama’s climate policy short-lived. Most Republicans voted against the Obama administration’s unilateral action on climate change issues. Many members of Congress even questioned whether human actions are responsible for global warming. Some media commentators believe that Obama can certainly use his administrative veto, temporarily excluding resistance from Congress, so that the new emission reduction measures can be implemented within his term of office. However, the U.S. Constitution requires that Congress must pass any Contracting Act in order to become a law. Otherwise once Obama leaves office, the next president will have the right to deny Obama’s climate policy, making the agreement reached at the climate summit in Paris an empty letter in the United States.”
Sources: Guangming Daily and Xinhua, December 1, 2015
http://gmrb3.wap.gmw.cn/gmrb/html/2015-12/01/content_310138.htm?div=-1
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-12/01/c_128485485.htm