[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 55 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 55

Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should withdraw 
          from the Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 18, 2017

Mr. McKinley (for himself, Mr. Jenkins of West Virginia, Mr. Mooney of 
    West Virginia, Ms. Cheney, Mr. Yoho, Mr. Barr, Mr. Rothfus, Mr. 
  Bucshon, Mr. Griffith, Mr. Rokita, Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Perry, Mr. Roe of 
    Tennessee, and Mr. Renacci) submitted the following concurrent 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should withdraw 
          from the Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015.

Whereas the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (in this 
        resolution referred to as the ``Convention''), adopted in May 1992, 
        entered into force in 1994 and is being implemented;
Whereas the Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015, is another attempt by the 
        Convention's ``Conference of Parties'' to globally address climate 
        change, similar to the Kyoto Protocol, the Durban Platform, the 
        Copenhagen Accord, and the Cancun Agreements, all of which have failed 
        to meaningfully slow global carbon emissions;
Whereas the Paris Agreement fails to consider adequately economies that would be 
        negatively impacted by measures to respond to climate change, including 
        those found within the United States, as addressed in Article 4, 
        Paragraph 10 of the Convention;
Whereas the Paris Agreement has not been submitted to the United States Senate 
        for review and ratification;
Whereas the Paris Agreement could result in serious harm to the United States 
        economy, including significant job loss, increased energy and consumer 
        costs, risks to grid reliability, or any combination thereof;
Whereas, by using the free market, the United States has significantly reduced 
        carbon dioxide emissions to the lowest they have been in 15 years, and 
        the United States energy-related carbon dioxide emissions are projected 
        to remain below 2005 levels through 2040, while such emissions in the 
        developing world are projected to grow to 120 percent above 2005 levels 
        by 2040;
Whereas the People's Republic of China is the world's largest emitter of carbon 
        dioxide and, in accordance with the 2014 agreement with the Obama 
        administration, intends to increase its coal consumption until 2030;
Whereas the Republic of India announced that, notwithstanding the Paris 
        Agreement, it will continue its reliance on coal and plans to double the 
        nation's coal output within the next 5 years;
Whereas, according to an October 2015 MIT Technology Review report, increased 
        coal consumption in the Republic of India will negate any global efforts 
        to limit carbon dioxide, regardless of anything that the United States 
        does to decrease its emissions; and
Whereas the emissions reduction goals of the Paris Agreement cannot be met 
        without the global development and deployment of critical new 
        technologies, including energy storage technologies and advanced nuclear 
        reactors, as well as commercial-scale carbon, capture, utilization, and 
        storage technologies that are not currently viable economically and will 
        require substantial investment into further research: Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that the United States should withdraw 
from the Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015.
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