Seventeen Republican attorneys general urged the Trump administration Thursday to skip the major U.N. climate conference this year over concerns that participation would validate the aggressive green policies that align with the conference’s talking points. [emphasis, links added]
Though the Trump administration has not announced that it will send a delegation to attend COP30 this year, some GOP senators have reportedly floated the idea of participating in the conference on Oct. 10.
The letter, led by West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey, warned three energy cabinet secretaries that the administration’s attendance may signal endorsement of COP-aligned green policies that the Republican attorneys general argue have dire consequences.
“Sitting out the COP-30 conference sends a strong message that America will no longer be part of the green new scam. Renewables are not reliable and are expensive – just look at California – but yet, this gathering will continue to push these climate initiatives with their grandiose declarations, while ignoring reality,” McCuskey told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “In this country, we finally have an administration taking bold action to secure the Nation’s energy interests by investing in traditional fuels and undoing harmful regulations. Skipping COP-30 signals that America will pursue energy policies based on what provides the most affordable and reliable energy to the American people, not international pressure.”
Letter Re COP30 From AGs by audreystreb
McCuskey and the 16 other attorneys general argued in the letter that COP-aligned policies like net-zero have major consequences and run counter to the Trump administration’s goals, addressing the warning to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin.
Though the first Trump administration sent delegations to the U.N. conference and advocated for fossil fuel use, the attorneys general warned against lending any credibility to the long-standing climate conference that has fostered some of the most aggressive global emissions goals, like the Paris Agreement Trump exited through a day-one executive order.
“Sending a delegation to COP-30 would do little more than lend credibility to the COP’s policies. Yet we should not permit international actors to dictate our energy and environmental choices; the federal government (alongside States) should be making those calls. And while we understand the hope that participating might allow for an ‘honest dialogue’ about the realities of climate change, we’re less hopeful,” the attorneys general wrote. “By refusing to participate in COP-30, America will safeguard its national security, energy independence, and economic interests. We urge this administration to continue putting America first by declining to participate in COP.”
The letter also states that countries that primarily rely on wind and solar have more expensive electricity, and that some green energy resources are not only less reliable but also pose dangers to the environment, despite the prevailing narrative that they will help save the planet by cutting down on carbon dioxide emissions.
“Overreliance on renewable energy generation destabilizes the electric grid and heightens the risk of dangerous and costly blackouts,” the letter states. “Renewable energy sources also present both known and (currently) unknown hazards for which the COP fails to account.”
The attorneys general also argued that reliance on wind and solar resources poses a national security risk, as China dominates parts of the green energy market, especially critical minerals needed for solar panels.
Read rest at Daily Caller
The article has an excellent point. However, there is another view point that those running COP worry about. The United States could attend COP and sabotage it. COP requires consensus for all decisions. It only takes one negative vote to block an agreement. The US could veto the stated goals of tripling renewables, transitioning away from fossil fuels, transforming agriculture, carbon markets, and the planned trillion dollar a year give away. I’m saying that this a possible path the US could take, however I agree with the AGs and believe simply boycotting COP 30 would be better in that it reduces its legitimacy.