Article II, Section 2, of the federal Constitution declares:
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur;
The Paris Climate Accord was never ratified by the Senate, two-thirds of the Senators present have never concurred with the treaty. What that means is that even though Biden put us back in, there is no force of law behind our participation, there is no legal obligation for the US or any other country for that matter, to cut their emissions, only an agreement that the signatories "should" work to achieve the goals of the agreement.
Obama purposefully had language inserted that no signatory could withdraw until 3 years after the signing of the agreement, and the withdrawal would only take effect 1 year after the notice of withdrawal was given specifically to prevent whoever followed him from being able to withdraw from the accord during the length of their first term. Thus, we were "out" in December of 2020, the soonest time it was possible to withdraw, and back in a month after Biden took office. It takes a year to get out and 30 days to get back in according to the document . . . very convenient.
Thankfully this time around we'll be "out" for 3 years before Trump's successor would be able to sign us back up, if Trump, again, notifies the depositary of our intention to withdraw on "day one" of his second administration.
There is a reason the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate is necessary to give the force of law to any treaty that the executive negotiates, it prevents the executive from subjugating the people of these United States to their whim. That Obama, and Democrats in general, view the framing document of this Union as something to be thwarted instead of followed is very illuminating as to which party in our system of government is the party of authoritarianism.
