Paris climate talks: Democratic senators say they 'will not back down'

Democratic senators staged a show of force at the Paris climate meeting on Saturday, pledging they “had Barack Obama’s back” and would defend his agenda in a Republican-controlled Congress.

The appearance by 10 Democratic senators, days after Congress voted to repeal new power plant rules, was intended to demonstrate solid political support for Obama’s climate plan – despite Republican claims to the contrary.

The 10 senators, the first wave of an expected US political invasion of the climate talks, said they would be prepared to defend Obama’s agenda in Congress and push for stronger climate action.

“What you see here are people who are going to protect what the president is putting on the table here in Paris as a promise from the American people to the world,” Ed Markey, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, told a press conference. “We are going to back up the president every step of the way.”

Republican presidential contenders and the party’s leadership in Congress have moved repeatedly to undercut Obama’s position as a global leader on climate change.

Last week, the House of Representatives voted to repeal the clean power plant rules that are the main pillar of Obama’s climate plan and released statements accusing the president of pursuing “a suspect climate agenda”.

The White House has said it would veto any such measures, and Republicans do not have the votes to overturn a presidential veto.

The senators said they were in Paris to demonstrate there was strong political commitment to fighting climate change. “We are moving in the right direction and we are not going to back down,” said Tom Udall, a Democrat from New Mexico. “We have the president’s back and we are going to make sure we keep moving in the right direction.”

But Markey said there would be more fights to come, warning that Republicans were mobilising to overturn increased fuel efficiency rules, which would raise the standard for US cars to an average of 54mpg.

Obama’s focus on climate change has put the Paris meeting on the US political map to a much greater extent than in past years.

The Democratic delegation included some of the strongest climate warriors in Congress such as Markey, who co-wrote the 2009 climate bill, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who has delivered well over 100 speeches about climate change on the Senate floor, and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who last month co-wrote a bill with presidential contender Bernie Sanders that would halt new fossil fuel extraction on public lands.

All of the senators have come out strongly in favour of the US playing a global role on climate change, and called for a strong deal in Paris.

Ben Cardin of Maryland, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Coons of Delaware, Al Franken of Minnesota, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Tom Udall of New Mexico also made the trip.

Several Obama administration officials are scheduled to visit Paris to demonstrate US commitment to fighting climate change.

A far bigger delegation – with Republicans as well as Democrats – is expected to visit the meeting next week, and could deliver a much more ambivalent message from the US about a climate deal.