It's my understanding that President's in the past have said they would abide by the terms of treaties that have been signed and not ratified. However, this is pretty much the President just saying they will direct executive branch agencies to abide by the terms of their own treaty as long as it doesn't conflict with existing law. It has no legal standing. So Obama couldn't, say, direct an agency to create a national registry and then use this unratified treaty as a defense in court.
No, it's not. Pursuant to the government's 40 years of illegal adherence to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, administrative agencies will be committed to not do anything to contravene the treaty, even with just a signature. It's "customary international law."
Personally I don’t care if lurch approves and senators sign...
Those folks that signed the Declaration will lead me from History to Action. lurch be damned
TT
Technically.
But Slick Willy forced us into de facto Kyoto Protocol even though the Senate rejected the treaty through the Byrd–Hagel Resolution 95-0.
Don't let your guard down. Don't trust this admin to abide by the will of the people or the Senate.