[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 177 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 177

    Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives concerning 
 membership of the United States in the International Renewable Energy 
                                Agency.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 2009

Mr. Markey of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. 
Delahunt, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Grijalva, and Ms. Shea-Porter) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives concerning 
 membership of the United States in the International Renewable Energy 
                                Agency.

Whereas global warming, depletion of natural resources, population growth, 
        increasing energy demand, rising energy prices, and unequal distribution 
        of energy sources are contributing to the urgent need to transform the 
        energy sector from one which primarily relies on fossil fuels to one 
        that uses renewable energies and energy efficient technologies;
Whereas the potential of renewable energy is vast and its current use is limited 
        due to obstacles that include difficult permitting procedures, import 
        tariffs and technical barriers, insecure financing of renewable energy 
        projects, and insufficient awareness of the opportunities of renewable 
        energy;
Whereas foreign oil dependence harms the United States economy and consumers, 
        entangles the military in foreign conflicts, endangers public health and 
        the environment through the threat of global warming, and is estimated 
        to have directly cost the United States $7,000,000,000,000 (in constant 
        2000 dollars) from 1970 to 2005;
Whereas expanding the availability and generating capacity of renewable energy 
        to markets around the world will increase economic opportunity, drive 
        technological innovation, enhance regional and global security, raise 
        living standards, and reduce global warming pollution;
Whereas global energy demand will continue to rise as countries experience 
        economic expansion and industrialization and world population grows to 
        an anticipated level of 9 billion by 2050;
Whereas at least $20,000,000,000,000 of investment in energy generation and 
        infrastructure will be needed worldwide in order to meet the world's 
        energy needs in 2030 (in constant 2005 dollars);
Whereas energy generation and infrastructure takes many decades to turn over, 
        making near-term energy investment decisions instrumental to long-term 
        energy, climate, and economic security;
Whereas the institutional support for renewable energy technology needs to be 
        strengthened to match its growing level of importance to the United 
        States and the world;
Whereas the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International 
        Energy Agency (IEA) were formed to address the unique problems and 
        geopolitical dynamics associated with nuclear energy and petroleum, 
        respectively;
Whereas under the guidance and oversight of the IAEA, nuclear power has grown 
        from supplying almost none of the world's electricity at the IAEA's 
        founding in 1957 to 15 percent in 2006;
Whereas since the founding of the IEA, created as an autonomous agency linked 
        with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 
        during the 1973-1974 Arab oil embargo to guard against severe future oil 
        supply disruptions and help its 28 industrialized oil-consuming member 
        countries counterbalance the growing power of the Organization of 
        Petroleum Exporting Countries, global oil consumption has grown 55 
        percent;
Whereas in 2004, carbon dioxide emissions from OECD countries were surpassed for 
        the first time by emissions from non-OECD countries, and carbon dioxide 
        emissions from developing countries are projected to account for over 75 
        percent of global emissions growth by 2030;
Whereas encouraging growth of renewable energy in developing countries reduces 
        the extent and likelihood that these economies will follow a carbon-
        intensive, fossil energy development path;
Whereas the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is the first 
        international organization to focus solely on renewable energy and 
        include a broad constituency of industrialized and developing countries;
Whereas renewable energy is proving to be a major economic driver and source of 
        growth, with more than $100,000,000,000 invested worldwide in new 
        renewable energy capacity, manufacturing plants, and research and 
        development in 2007, and with revenue growth for companies in the solar 
        photovoltaic, wind, biofuels, and fuel cell industries growing to 
        $77,300,000,000 in 2007, up 40 percent from 2006;
Whereas small hydro, modern biomass (which excludes small-scale combustion of 
        fuel wood, charcoal, plant waste, and animal dung), wind, solar, 
        geothermal, and biofuels make up just 2.4 percent of world energy 
        supply;
Whereas the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that to 
        stabilize greenhouse gases at carbon dioxide equivalent concentrations 
        of roughly 450-500 parts per million--where global temperature rise 
        could be limited to 3.6 to 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit and sea-level rise due 
        to thermal expansion limited to 4.6 feet--global emissions would need to 
        peak by 2015 and decline to as little as 15 percent of 2000 levels by 
        the year 2050;
Whereas in the United States and most countries, global warming costs are not 
        currently paid by the polluters of greenhouse gases--a failure of 
        competitive markets which leads to the overuse of carbon-emitting energy 
        and the under-production of carbon-free energy;
Whereas in the United States alone, over a billion tons of greenhouse gas 
        emissions could be eliminated each year at a profit through energy 
        efficiency measures by 2030, avoiding the construction of hundreds of 
        power plants;
Whereas renewable energy tends to have higher up-front construction costs and 
        low or zero fuel costs and fossil energy has an opposite cost structure, 
        resulting in a higher number of jobs per unit of energy generated from 
        renewable energy than conventional fossil fuels;
Whereas IRENA aims to promote a rapid transition towards the widespread and 
        sustainable use of renewable energy on a global scale by bringing 
        together stakeholders from the energy industry, academia, government, 
        and non-governmental institutions, and in cooperation with existing 
        organizations and networks already engaged in similar missions, to 
        provide consultative support to member countries, help improve 
        regulatory frameworks and capacity, and facilitate access to best 
        practices, effective financial mechanisms, technological expertise, and 
        data on renewable energy and resource potential;
Whereas 75 countries signed the International Renewable Energy Agency Statute on 
        January 26, 2009, in Bonn, Germany, thereby founding the agency; and
Whereas the United States may still become a founding IRENA member country, 
        eligible to nominate a Director General and bid to host the IRENA 
        headquarters on United States territory, if it signs the founding 
        statute by April 30, 2009: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the United States, as soon as practicable, should seek to join the 
International Renewable Energy Agency.
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