PARIS (AP) - President Barack Obama said Tuesday that parts of the global warming deal being negotiated in Paris should be legally binding on the participating countries, setting up a potential fight with Republicans at home.
Obama's stand won praise at the U.N. climate conference from those who want a strong agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of coal, oil and gas. But it could rile conservatives in Washington, especially if he tries to put the deal into effect without seeking congressional approval.
The Obama administration has pledged during the international talks to reduce U.S. emissions by up to 28 percent by 2025. But inscribing the emissions target in the Paris deal would probably require Obama to submit the pact to Congress, where it would be unlikely to win ratification. Many Republicans doubt global warming is real or fear that stringent pollution controls could kill jobs.
So the administration is looking to keep the targets out while including binding procedures on when and how countries should review their targets and raise them if possible.
"Although the targets themselves may not have the force of treaties, the process, the procedures that ensure transparency and periodic reviews, that needs to be legally binding," Obama said in Paris, "and that's going to be critical."
Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and a fierce critic of Obama's policies, fired back immediately.
"The U.S. Senate will not be ignored. If the president wishes to sign the American people up to a legally binding agreement, the deal must go through the Senate," he said in a statement. "There is no way around it."
The White House previously said parts of the deal should be legally binding, but this is the first time Obama has said it himself and spelled out which ones.
Obama's comments brought relief to the French hosts of the conference, who were worried about whether the U.S. wanted a binding deal at all after Secretary of State John Kerry told The Financial Times that the agreement was "definitely not going to be a treaty" and that there was "not going to be legally binding reduction targets."
"The fact that the United States of America could commit to a binding agreement whilst before there was a doubt because of Congress, is really extraordinary news that comes at a good time," French Environment Minister Segolene Royal said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders have warned other countries not to trust any deal Obama may strike. Other GOP politicians are working to nullify Obama's emissions-cutting steps at home.
The Republican-led House was scheduled to vote Tuesday afternoon on whether to strike down federal rules reducing carbon emissions from power plants.
At a news conference, House Speaker Paul Ryan was asked whether Congress was out of step with public opinion on climate change.
"I don't think we're out of step with public opinion wanting jobs, wanting economic growth, weighing the costs and the benefits," Ryan said.
"I think when you weigh the costs and the benefits against these so-called legally binding obligations, they don't add up. I think it's very clear people want jobs."
At the Paris talks, the European Union has called for a legally binding agreement with emissions targets, but observers said it is likely to drop that demand over the next two weeks of negotiations to make sure the U.S. can join the deal.
"I think at end of the day everyone knows that for the U.S. to be part of this, it can't have the emissions target itself legally embedded in the treaty," said Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Nigel Purvis, a former U.S. climate negotiator and president of the non-governmental organization Climate Advisers, said Obama has all the legal authority he needs to enter an agreement where only some elements are binding.
Obama on Tuesday also announced a U.S. contribution of $30 million to help make insurance against climate-related damage available in the Pacific, Central America and Africa.