Yesterday President Obama, in a speech delivered in China, announced that the “United States has set a new goal of reducing our net greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2025.”

A joint written announcement stated that, “China intends to achieve the peaking of CO2 emissions around 2030 and to make best efforts to peak early.”

In his speech, President Obama said, “This is a major milestone in the U.S.-China relationship, and it shows what’s possible when we work together on an urgent global challenge.”

I read the transcript of the remarks delivered by President Xi. There was no reference in his speech to greenhouse gas or CO2 emissions. There was no reference in his speech to the year 2030.

The closest he came was to say that the US and China, “jointly announced our respective post-2020 targets.” The joint announcement was published by the White House Office of the Press Secretary.

This may appear to be splitting hairs, but given the slew of “nuances” from this administration, it is doubtful that the Chinese have agreed to anything. Even if the joint announcement does accurately reflect China’s position, it still is impossible to determine exactly what their position is.

The joint announcement says that they will peak CO2 emissions around 2030. Just when does “around 2030” fall on the calendar? We are assured that they will make their best efforts to peak early. How many Obama negotiators did it take to reach this major milestone with China?

There is an agenda behind this agreement and it has little, if anything, to do with China. Barack Obama has unleashed his army of EPA regulators on the US economy and this agreement is only a ruse to cover his escalating assault. He will attempt to use this agreement as if it carried the force of law.

Our new members in the Senate and US House of Representatives will have one more unnecessary challenge in the coming year. The time for hand-wringing and denunciation is past. They must summarily reject this lopsided farce of an agreement and stop the assault by the EPA.

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