Lawmakers cancel trips to Paris climate talks

House lawmakers are cancelling their plans to travel to Paris this weekend for the climate change accord.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had hoped to bring a group of Democrats to the talks to bolster a deal and President Obama’s contributions to it, while Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) was planning to potentially bring a Republican contingent.

{mosads}But the possibility of negotiations for a government funding bill stretching beyond Friday have pushed leaders to cancel the trips, aides in both parties said.

Friday is the deadline for a funding measure, although Congress could extend funding temporarily, requiring that lawmakers stay in Washington.

Lawmakers are working through a range of disagreements on the government funding measure, including whether to put in restrictions on Syrian refugee resettlement, environmental regulations and other contentious questions.

Whitfield had hoped to use the trip to undermine Obama’s negotiating position and show foreign diplomats that the Environmental Protection Agency’s climate rules for power plants — the main pillar of Obama’s pledge to the conference — will not survive challenges.

Ten Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), traveled to Paris last weekend to support the talks.

Cardin said at the event that he and his colleagues were “determined to make sure that Paris is a successful conference, and that we will see a day where we can meet the goal of reducing the damage that we’re doing to our planet.”

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) had considered going to the talks to act as a “one-man truth squad” and tell diplomats that Obama’s pledge is a lie. But he decided against it.

The Paris meeting, organized by the United Nations, is set to end Friday, but could go on longer if necessary.