- Senator Ted Cruz criticized President Biden with a comparison that may have missed the mark.
- He said Biden’s return to the Paris climate deal shows that he cares more about Paris than Pittsburgh.
- Pittsburgh is indeed doing well on climate goals, although Cruz recently contested his election results.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas kicked off Joe Biden’s nascent presidency, attacking his decision to return to the Paris climate change deal – although his choice of metaphor missed the mark.
Biden, who swore an oath on Wednesday, issued more than a dozen executive orders, including re-joining the Paris climate agreement to reduce emissions. The United States is the second largest producer of carbon emissions, behind China.
Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump dropped out of the deal early in his term.
Cruz said in a statement that re-joining the agreement would result in a sustained job loss in the U.S. and that “by signing this order, President Biden indicates that he is more interested in the opinions of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh . “
“Re-joining the Paris Climate Agreement will do little to affect the climate and damage the livelihoods of ordinary Americans across the country,” said Cruz.
Although France is one of the 195 signatories to the Paris agreements, the agreement is international and is not intended to attract or benefit Parisians.
The 2015 agreement was signed by world leaders in Paris. Likewise, the Geneva Conventions for armed conflicts and their treaties originated in Geneva, Switzerland, but involve countries around the world.
As for Pittsburgh, the city looks comfortable with its carbon emissions target. It has exceeded its commitment to the Paris agreements and has already reached its 2030 target of 100% renewable energy for city operations, according to the Democratic Mayor of Pittsburgh Bill Peduto.
Trump’s initial withdrawal from the deal angered Mayor Peduto, as well as Mayor Anne Hidalgo of Paris, prompting the two to write an opinion column announcing “that we are more united than ever.”
“As Mayor of Pittsburgh, I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris. As Mayor of Paris, I was elected to represent the citizens of Paris, not Pittsburgh,” said the column.
“But the only way to do the right thing for Pittsburghers and Parisians is to obey the principles of the Paris Agreement, which guarantees the future health and prosperity of both our cities – and of all other cities in the world,” wrote the two mayors. .
Peduto, who has criticized Trump’s presidency, also noted that Cruz was one of the minority group of Republican lawmakers who formally opposed the results of the U.S. presidential election in 2020 – an objection that attempted to deprive Pennsylvania voters, according to the mayor.
But Pittsburgh is part of Allegheny County, where most of its residents voted for Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020,
Some Republican lawmakers later objected to counting the Electoral College votes in the presidential race, raising theories unmasked of widespread electoral fraud and giving credence to conspiracy theories that were repeatedly overturned by federal judges.
The objections and comments raised by Republicans like Cruz were essential to fuel the discontent that paved the way for the deadly January 6 riots on Capitol Hill, according to Democratic lawmakers.
“Are you kidding me? Here we go again …” Peduto said in Twitter.
Cruz’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday night.