U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii Wednesday welcomed the White House’s announcement of an agreement between President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China to address the global threat of climate change.

“The agreement recognizes that as the two leading producers of greenhouse gas emissions, the United States and China must take short and long term measures to reduce the amount of carbon pollution and to encourage the development of clean energy,” Schatz said in a statement.

The senator added, “By jointly agreeing to specific goals which will reduce carbon emissions by 2030 at the latest, the United States and China are poised to significantly bolster renewable energy research and technology and foster a new industrial revolution fueled by clean energy.”

Said Hirono, “This announcement demonstrates bold leadership from the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies and emitters of carbon emissions, and makes clear that we do not need to choose between the economy and the environment. Climate change is real and we must address it. The opportunity for Hawaii is that we are a leader in clean energy solutions and we can share that expertise with others.”

Flick: Ben Husmann

Like the president, Hirono and Schatz are Democrats. Schatz has made addressing climate change a legislative priority and spoke about it frequently during the election season this year. Al Gore endorsed him and visited Hawaii in part on his behalf.

The surprise China-U.S. deal is being hailed as historic.

“The United States will cut its emissions between 26 percent and 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, the White House said,” according to The Hill. “It is the first time the U.S. has agreed to cuts greater than the 17 percent reduction Obama set as a goal in 2009.”

Others are less sure the deal is historic. A scribe for The Daily Beast called the deal “mostly hot air.”

Meanwhile, the incoming Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, is already calling the deal unbalanced and favoring China.

“I was particularly distressed by the deal that he has apparently reached with the Chinese on his current trip, which as I read the agreement requires the Chinese to do nothing at all for 16 years, while these carbon emissions regulations are creating havoc in my state and other states around the country,” said McConnell, according to CBS News. “I would welcome the president moving toward the middle. I have said before I hope we can do some business on trade and maybe tax reform. First indications have not been very helpful.”

McConnell, it should be noted, represents coal-burning Kentucky.

Finally, James Inhofe, the climate-change denier who will the Senate committee in charge of environmental policy, called the China-U.S. pact a “charade.”

McConnell and Inhofe are Republicans.