Is the Paris climate agreement illegal because it was not ratified by the Senate?
In 2015, President Obama entered the U.S. into the Paris Agreement on climate change by signing an “executive agreement,” a form of legal agreement between the executive branch and other countries that does not require Senate approval. Obama did not believe the Republican-controlled Senate would ratify a full treaty committing the U.S. to specific reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions.
Under the Constitution, presidents have the authority to make such non-binding international agreements. In 2007 the Supreme Court affirmed that under the Clean Air Act federal agencies have authority to set standards for emissions reductions. The U.S. also ratified the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which serves as a base for further action under the Paris Agreement, avoiding the need to for a new treaty.
