Countries both poor and rich participated in a historic moment on December 2015 as world leaders reached a landmark agreement in Paris to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change.
Representatives from 196 nations signed a pact of commitment to prevent average global temperatures from rising 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) higher, starting late 2015 up to 2100.
United Nations secretary Ban Ki-Moon dubbed the 12-page Paris Climate Agreement as a monumental success for Earth and its inhabitants. "History will remember this day," he said.
But not everyone agrees. While Paris delegates were celebrating, politicians in Washington were grumbling about how bad the climate agreement was for the United States.
A hearing at the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology on Feb. 2. revealed how policy-makers and experts view the matter.
As President Barack Obama made a pact to cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent within 10 years, Republicans believe this will have several negative effects.
"The president's Paris pledge will increase electricity costs, ration energy and slow economic growth," said Lamar Smith, chairman of the committee and a Republican from Texas.
Witnesses of the hearing questioned the legality of the climate agreement, as well as Obama's pledge. Smith said the president's pledge appears to lack constitutional legitimacy because it has not yet been ratified by the Senate.
Stephen Eule, Vice President for Climate and Technology from the Chamber of Commerce, said the Paris goals were futile.
"The US Paris pledge of a 26 percent to 28 percent reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions from the 2005 level by 2025 is completely unrealistic," he said. "The administration still has no plan to achieve it."
Eule also said U.S. taxpayers will have to contribute billions of dollars in funds to help poor nations fight against the effects of climate change and produce clean energy economies.
Aside from that, witnesses were skeptical whether the climate agreement would have any significant impact on climate change, especially because America's pledge is only one-fiftieth of the overall 1 degree Celcius rise over the next 85 years.
One of the witnesses who testified in the hearing, Steven Groves of the World Resources Institute, published their complete stand on why the climate agreement is a bad deal for America.
