There’s no doubt that President
Obama is trying to shape a climate legacy and that showing leadership on
all things climate related is his way of doing so. Accordingly, the
President had already made a groundbreaking climate deal with Chinese
premier Xi Jinping. Coming roughly a year ago, it neutralized what might
otherwise have been the biggest issue in global climate talks — that
is, what China will do.
And then,
earlier this year, Obama’s administration delivered the finalized Clean
Power Plan, the centerpiece of the U.S.’s push to cap its own
emissions. This was all about walking the walk and cleaning up our own
house.
So what was left when it
came to showing leadership? Well, the major symbolic move of rejecting a
pipeline that environmentalists have extensively rallied against, and
that has come to symbolize the notion that many new fossil fuel projects
won’t be able to go forward if the U.S. and world stay committed to the
goal of not allowing warming beyond 2 degrees C above pre-industrial
levels.
Read more: How Obama’s Keystone XL rejection gives him momentum for the Paris climate talks - The Washington Post
