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AOC lays into Ted Cruz after misleading tweet on Paris Climate Agreement

‘Quick question: do you also believe the Geneva Convention was about the views of the citizens of Geneva?’ Rep Ocasio-Cortez responded

Louise Boyle
Senior Climate Correspondent in New York
Thursday 21 January 2021 14:58 GMT
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday swiftly shot down Ted Cruz’s claim that the global Paris Climate Agreement was to intended favor the citizens of the French capital over “the citizens of Pittsburgh”.

Shortly after being sworn in President Joe Biden signed an executive order rejoining the 2015 Paris Accords, the international pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions to avoid catastrophic global heating. Former president Trump had withdrawn from the deal in 2017.

On Wednesday, Senator Cruz tweeted: “By rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, President Biden indicates he’s more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh. This agreement will do little to affect the climate and will harm the livelihoods of Americans.”

The Republican from Texas appeared to be pushing a willful misunderstanding of the naming of global agreement to his 1.9million followers. The Democratic congresswoman from New York quickly took him to task.

"Nice tweet Sen. Cruz! Quick question: do you also believe the Geneva Convention was about the views of the citizens of Geneva?” Rep Ocasio-Cortez replied. 

It’s widely understood that international treaties and conventions often take the names of the locations where they are signed. 

The Paris Agreement was named for the city of Paris, where it was adopted in December 2015, by almost every nation on earth.The naming practice stretches back centuries. 

The Treaty of Berwick in 1526 was an agreement to establish peace between Scotland and England. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 ended the war between the US and Mexico, ceding parts of territory that became modern-day US states including Texas. 

More recently, the Maastricht Treaty established the EU in 1992 and the St Andrew’s Agreement in 2006 was negotiated to bring peace to Northern Ireland.

Earlier on Wednesday, Sen Cruz joined Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who helped lead the charge in disputing the election results, at the inauguration ceremony of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

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