Battle Line Over Climate Change
BLITZER: The climate agreement with China getting a chilly reception from Republicans and drawing a new battle line between President Obama and the incoming Republican-controlled Congress. Our chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash is here. She's got details. Dana, this deal on carbon emissions, it could be historic but a lot of Republicans say they don't like it.</s>DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Look, last week when Republicans took over control of the Senate and, of course, total control of the house, people asked, well, is it going to be different? The answer is yes. And the issue of climate change is exhibit A.</s>BASH (voice-over): Mitch McConnell hosting newly elected Senate Republicans in his Capitol office for the first time since their victories put him in charge as majority leader and made him a more powerful adversary for the president.</s>SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: The president continues to send signals that he has no intention of moving toward the middle.</s>BASH: McConnell was eager to express outrage about a sweeping deal President Obama struck hours earlier in China to limit greenhouse gas emissions.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is an ambitious goal, but it is an achievable goal.</s>BASH: China agreed to peak its carbon emissions by 2030. The U.S., to reduce by nearly a third by the year 2025. McConnell isn't buying it.</s>MCCONNELL: It requires the Chinese to do nothing at all for 16 years while these carbon emission regulations are creating havoc in my state and other states around the country.</s>BASH: Fighting government regulation was a key part of McConnell's regulation campaign in coal-rich Kentucky.</s>MCCONNELL: It's jobs for people who are hurting and stops the war on coal now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitch is a friend of coal.</s>BASH: In fact, partisan differences over climate change are among the deepest in the newly divided government. Many high profile congressional Republicans don't buy the science behind climate change. (on camera): Do you believe climate change is real?</s>SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: I'm always troubled by a theory that fits every perfect situation.</s>BASH: You don't believe that there is any manmade reason for global warming or climate change?</s>CRUZ: What I think is the data are not supporting what the advocates are arguing.</s>BASH (voice-over): Perhaps the most stark difference with the GOP Senate takeover is control of the committee overseeing environmental regulation. Staunch Democratic environmentalist Barbara Boxer will hand the gavel to Republican James Inhofe, who wrote the book literally on man-made climate change being a hoax, saying only God can affect the climate.</s>SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R), OKLAHOMA: My point is God is still up there, and this is the arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what he is doing in the climate is to me outrageous.</s>BASH: Since there is no chance Congress will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Republicans fully expect the president is going to use his executive powers to at least start as he's done before. But McConnell has promised that when he is in charge next year, Republicans will try to reverse environmental regulations by using Congress' power of the purse and, Wolf, that sets up another showdown and threatens another shutdown if they take this all the way.</s>BLITZER: And the immediate issue is going to be immigration, if the president uses the executive authority to change the rules on immigration.</s>BASH: In the lame duck. Right, that's in this coming --</s>BLITZER: He says he's going to do it before the end of the year if Congress doesn't pass legislation.</s>BASH: He did. He promised to that. Congress has to pass legislation to keep the government running by December 11th, the second week in December. If there are already threats by Republicans if the president uses his executive authority before that, the Republicans are going to try to do away with that again with the power of the purse.</s>BLITZER: All right. Dana, thanks very, very much. Remember, you can follow us on Twitter. Go ahead and tweet me @wolfblitzer, tweet the show @CNNsitroom. Please be sure to join us again tomorrow right here in THE SITUATION ROOM. You can watch us live, and you can always DVR the show so you won't miss a moment. Thanks for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.