Fossil fuel industry lobbying blocked U.S. Senate ratification of climate treaties

Evidence

Because of heavy lobbying by the petroleum and coal industries, the U.S. Senate has been unwilling to ratify any international climate treaties, depriving the United States of leadership and moral leverage in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. … Until recently, through its obstructiveness at UN summits, it had aroused resentment and derision: “American officials have been booed and hissed during international climate talks, bestowed with mock ‘Fossil of the Day’ awards for resisting treaties, and widely condemned for demanding that other nations cut their fossil fuel emissions while refusing, year after year, to take action at home” (Davenport, 2014e). — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2930

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to contemporary climate politics discourse and the moral disengagement mechanism of blaming others while refusing self-restraint — the ‘comparative justification’ the agreement later eliminated.