110 HCON 104 IH: Expressing the sense of Congress regarding U.S. House of Representatives 2007-03-29 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 104 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 29, 2007 Mr. Carnahan (for himself and Mr. Kirk) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the need for the United States to address global climate change through the negotiation of fair and effective international commitments.

Whereas there is a scientific consensus, as established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and confirmed by the National Academy of Sciences, that the continued buildup of anthropogenic greenhouse gases in the atmosphere threatens the stability of the global climate; Whereas there are significant long-term risks to the economy and the environment of the United States from the temperature increases and climatic disruptions that are projected to result from increased greenhouse gas concentrations; Whereas the potential impacts of global climate change, including long-term drought, famine, mass migration, and abrupt climatic shifts, may lead to international tensions and instability in regions affected and thereby have implications for the national security interests of the United States; Whereas the United States, as the largest economy in the world, is also the largest greenhouse gas emitter; Whereas the greenhouse gas emissions of the United States are currently projected to continue to rise; Whereas the greenhouse gas emissions of developing countries are rising more rapidly than the emissions of the United States and will soon surpass the greenhouse gas emissions of the United States and other developed countries; Whereas reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the levels necessary to avoid serious climatic disruption requires the introduction of new energy technologies and other climate-friendly technologies, the use of which results in low or no emissions of greenhouse gases or in the capture and storage of greenhouse gases; Whereas the development and sale of climate-friendly technologies in the United States and internationally presents economic opportunities for workers and businesses in the United States; Whereas climate-friendly technologies can improve air quality by reducing harmful pollutants from stationary and mobile sources, and can enhance energy security by reducing reliance on imported oil, diversifying energy sources, and reducing the vulnerability of energy delivery infrastructure; Whereas other industrialized countries are undertaking measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which provide the industries in those countries with a competitive advantage in the growing global market for climate-friendly technologies; Whereas efforts to limit emissions growth in developing countries in a manner that is consistent with the development needs of those countries could establish significant markets for climate-friendly technologies and contribute to international efforts to address climate change; Whereas the United States Climate Change Science Program launched by President George W. Bush concluded in April 2006 that there is no longer a discrepancy between the rates of global average temperature increase observed at the Earth’s surface and in the atmosphere, thereby strengthening the scientific evidence that human activity contributes significantly to global temperature increases; Whereas President Bush, in his State of the Union Address in January 2006, called on the United States to reduce its addiction to oil and focus its attention on developing cleaner, renewable, and sustainable energy sources; Whereas President Bush has launched the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate to cooperatively develop new and cleaner energy technologies and promote their use in fast developing nations like India and China; Whereas the national security of the United States will increasingly depend on the deployment of diplomatic, military, scientific, and economic resources toward solving the problem of the over-reliance of the United States and the world on high-carbon energy; Whereas, at the December 2005 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Montreal, Canada, parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, with the concurrence of the United States, initiated a new dialogue on long-term cooperative action to address climate change; Whereas the United States is a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, done at New York on May 9, 1992, and entered into force in 1994 (hereinafter referred to as the Convention); Whereas the Convention sets a long-term objective of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system; Whereas the Convention establishes that parties bear common but differentiated responsibilities for efforts to achieve the objective of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations; Whereas an effective global effort to address climate change must provide for commitments and action by all countries that are major emitters of greenhouse gases, developed and developing countries alike, and the widely varying circumstances among the developed and developing countries may require that such commitments and action vary; and Whereas the United States has the capability to lead the effort against global climate change: Now, therefore, be it

That it is the sense of Congress that the United States should act to reduce the health, environmental, economic, and national security risks posed by global climate change and foster sustained economic growth through a new generation of technologies, by— (1)participating in negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, done at New York on May 9, 1992, and entered into force in 1994, and leading efforts in other international fora, with the objective of securing United States participation in agreements that— (A)advance and protect the economic and national security interests of the United States; (B)establish mitigation commitments by all countries that are major emitters of greenhouse gases, consistent with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities; (C)establish flexible international mechanisms to minimize the cost of efforts by participating countries; and (D)achieve a significant long-term reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions; and (2)establishing a bipartisan observer group in the House of Representatives and the Senate, the members of which shall be designated by the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, to— (A)monitor any international negotiations on climate change; and (B)ensure that the advice and consent function of the Senate is exercised in a manner to facilitate timely consideration of any applicable treaty submitted to the Senate.