Following last night’s State of the Union Address in which the president pledged to implement a job-killing climate change agenda, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-3) today introduced legislation to prohibit the United States from contributing taxpayer dollars to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Luetkemeyer said the IPCC has received a great deal of criticism over the last several years, particularly when emails publicly released from a university in England showed that leading global scientists intentionally manipulated climate data and suppressed legitimate arguments in peer-reviewed journals. Researchers were asked to delete and destroy emails so that a small number of scientists could continue to advance their environmental agenda. Since that time, more than 700 acclaimed scientists have challenged claims made by IPCC. Luetkemeyer added that UNFCCC uses IPCC suggestions and data to implement its job-killing agenda.

“The American people should not have to foot the bill for an international organization that is fraught with waste, engaged in dubious science, and is promoting an agenda that will destroy jobs and drive up the cost of energy in the United States,” Luetkemeyer said. “Unfortunately, the president appears to be ready to fund these groups, revive harmful policies like cap and trade, and further empower out of control federal regulators at a time when we should be doing everything possible to cut wasteful spending, reduce regulatory red tape, and promote economic growth.”

Under the Obama administration, IPCC and UNFCCC have received an average of $10.25 million annually from U.S. taxpayers and the president’s FY13 budget included a $13 million request. Comparatively, the Bush administration was averaging roughly $5.7 million in annual contributions before reports of gross scientific misconduct. Since then, the Obama administration has nearly doubled U.S. contributions to IPCC and UNFCCC.

Luetkemeyer added that his bill would not only prohibit the aforementioned contributions as reported by federal agencies, but would also apply to in-kind contributions that often go unreported.  

Luetkemeyer introduced legislation in the 111th and 112th Congresses to prohibit funding for the IPCC, but this
year added UNFCCC to the legislation because the group uses IPCC’s suggestions and data to implement its job-killing agenda.