Politapocalypse (U.S. Politics Megathread)

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH: I’m not so sure the role of the United States is to go around the world and say this is the way it’s got to be. We can help. And maybe it’s just our difference in government, the way we view government. I mean I want to empower people. I want to help people help themselves, not have government tell people what to do. I just don’t think it’s the role of the United States to walk into a country and say, we do it this way, so should you.

I know it would remove a lot of back-and-forth banter keeping this thread going, but if a defender of the CP21 Agreement could describe what happens to a signatory that fails to meet the goals specified, that would be a good start.

It would also be interesting to know what happens if any of the estimated 55 countries that need some sort of ratification fail to obtain that ratification.

My view, based on the summaries I've read, is that this looks more like belling the cat than accomplishing its goal. I've seen a lot of comparisons to Kennedy's call to land a man on the moon. Part of that comparison seems apt to me: the goal is out there. Part of that comparison doesn't fit, however: the cost of sending a man to the moon, compared with the cost of sufficient carbon reduction to reduce earth's temperature by 1.5 degrees celcius, is rather like comparing the cost of building a play house to the cost of building Versailles.