'Not The Onion': Politico's report on the word that 'almost sank' the Paris climate talks is 'beyond parody'

Not The Onion. https://t.co/aSC1G7JiPq

— It’s Just Jenn (@JennJacques) December 13, 2015

Nope, unfortunately the Politico “report” is considered real journalism these days.

Beyond parody. https://t.co/A0mA1TDMis

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) December 13, 2015

It certainly is. These paragraphs say it all:

Obama administration lawyers discovered early in the day that the latest draft text had a potentially deal-killing tweak: Deep into the document, in Article 4, was a line declaring that wealthier countries “shall” set economy-wide targets for cutting their greenhouse gas pollution.

That may not sound like such a headache-inducing roadblock, but in the world of international climate negotiations, every word counts. In previous drafts, the word “shall” had been “should” — and in the lingo of U.N. climate agreements, “shall” implies legal obligation and “should” does not. That means the word change could have obliged the Obama administration to submit the final deal to the Senate for its approval. And inevitably, the GOP-led chamber would kill it on sight.

Utter nonsense.

@politico Climate Hoax Continues……

— TexJal (@TXJAL) December 13, 2015

'Not The Onion': Politico's report on the word that 'almost sank' the Paris climate talks is 'beyond parody'

Recommended