The White House is seeking to enshrine its pledge to cut emissions in a global climate agreement to be negotiated later this year in Paris, formally submitting an outline of its commitment to the United Nations yesterday. Republican leaders are warning other countries to 'proceed with caution' in negotiations with the Obama administration because any deal could be later undone, however. President Barack Obama lacks the . political and legal backing to commit the United States to an . international agreement, they say. Republican leaders are warning other countries to 'proceed with caution' in negotiations with the Obama administration because any deal could be later undone . The White House's Tuesday announcement that the U.S. would cut greenhouse gas emissions by close to 28 percent from 2005 levels within a decade builds on a promise Obama made last November in Beijing in concert with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two countries are the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gasses. To meet its stated benchmark by 2025, the White House will rely on a host of existing laws and executive actions targeting power plants, vehicles, oil and gas production and buildings. 'We can achieve this goal using laws that are already on the books, and it will be in place by the time the president leaves office,' Brian Deese, a senior adviser to the president, said according to the New York Times. Obama has just two years remaining in office, but many of the Senate's Republican lawmakers who oppose the initiative will remain in positions of power long after the current president has moved on. 'Considering that two-thirds of the U.S. federal government . hasn't even signed off on the Clean Power Plan and 13 states . have already pledged to fight it, our international partners . should proceed with caution before entering into a binding, . unattainable deal,' Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell noted on Tuesday. The UN Climate Conference is to take place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11. U.S. officials stressed that their Intended Nationally . Determined Contribution, U.N. lingo for its official submission, . stands on sound legal footing, with the measures drawing . authority from legislation such as the Clean Air Act and the . Energy Independence and Security Act. Todd Stern, the lead U.S. climate change negotiator, said he . frequently tells foreign counterparts that 'undoing the kind of . regulation we are putting in place is very tough to do.' But elements of the administration's climate policy already . face legal challenges. On April 16, a federal appeals court in . Washington, D.C. will hear arguments from 13 states opposed to . as-yet-unfinalized regulations from the Environmental Protection . Agency (EPA) that target emissions in existing power plants. McConnell's warnings echoed the tone of a March 9 'open . letter' from 47 Republican senators to Iran, in which they . warned a Republican president would not be bound to honor a . nuclear agreement struck by Democrat Obama without congressional . approval, calling it a 'mere executive agreement.' So did Missouri Senator Roy Blunt's. Blunt holds the position of vice chairman in the Senate Republican Conference. 'Just as we witnessed throughout recent negotiations with Iran and during the previous climate agreement with China, President Obama and his administration act as if Congress has no role in these discussions,' Blunt said in a Tuesday statement. 'That’s just flat out wrong.' 'We will not stand by and allow the president to unilaterally enact bad energy policies that hurt our nation’s poorest families and young people the most,' he said. The White House's Tuesday announcement that the U.S. would cut greenhouse gas emissions by close to 28 percent from 2005 levels within a decade builds on a promise Obama made last November in Beijing in concert with Chinese President Xi Jinping . Some observers said that resistance to the administration's . climate policies leaves foreign governments questioning whether . Obama's commitments can last. 'By strenuously invoking EPA regulations, the Administration . is trying to convince skeptical international audiences that the . U.S. can actually deliver on its new climate goals, despite . Republican resistance,' said Paul Bledsoe, a former Clinton . White House official who is now with the German Marshall Fund of . the United States. 'But major capitals are likely to remain nervous.' The administration is clearly sensitive to the threat. Power . plants are the biggest domestic source of greenhouse gas . emissions, and the EPA is seeking to use its power to slash . carbon levels from plants to 30 percent of their 2005 levels by . 2020. On Monday, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said the agency . had designed power plant rules under the authority of the Clean . Air Act - and insisted that they can withstand Supreme Court . scrutiny. 'We don't need a plan B if we are solid on our plan A,' she . said. Jeff Holmstead, a lawyer representing utilities . industries for Bracewell & Giuliani and former assistant . administrator of the EPA under George W Bush, says even if the . courts uphold the EPA proposal on power plants, a future . Republican administration can reverse it. 'There are some EPA rules that are very difficult for a new . administration to change but this is not one of those rules,' Holmstead said. He calculates that at least five high court . justices are wary of the EPA's regulatory leeway. Environmental groups, on the other hand, were more confident . that Obama's measures cannot be reversed by the courts or . politics. 'The Clean Air Act has proven to be quite durable,' said . David Waskow, director of international initiatives for the . World Resources Institute. 'While elements may be slowed or . modified by legal challenges, they are rarely overturned.'
President Barack Obama lacks the political and legal backing to commit the United States to an international agreement, Republican lawmakers say . Obama committed the U.S. to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by close to 28 percent from 2005 levels within a decade . 'Our international partners should proceed with caution before entering into a binding, unattainable deal,' Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said . 'We will not stand by and allow the president to unilaterally enact bad energy policies,' Senator Roy Blunt said . White House says it can achieve its goal 'using laws that are already on the books, and it will be in place by the time the president leaves office'