Obama says parts of climate deal must be legally binding

PARIS -- President Barack Obama said Tuesday 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 probably would 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 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 the agreement was "definitely not going to be a treaty" and 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.