[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S.J. Res. 8 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]

<DOC>





                                                        Calendar No. 27
116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. J. RES. 8

 Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New 
                                 Deal.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 13, 2019

Mr. McConnell introduced the following joint resolution; which was read 
                             the first time

                           February 14, 2019

            Read the second time and placed on the calendar

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
 Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New 
                                 Deal.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the October 2018 report entitled ``Special Report on 
        Global Warming of 1.5 C'' by the Intergovernmental Panel on 
        Climate Change and the November 2018 Fourth National Climate 
        Assessment report found that--
                    (A) human activity is the dominant cause of 
                observed climate change over the past century;
                    (B) a changing climate is causing sea levels to 
                rise and an increase in wildfires, severe storms, 
                droughts, and other extreme weather events that 
                threaten human life, healthy communities, and critical 
                infrastructure;
                    (C) global warming at or above 2 degrees Celsius 
                beyond pre-industrialized levels will cause--
                            (i) mass migration from the regions most 
                        affected by climate change;
                            (ii) more than $500,000,000,000 in lost 
                        annual economic output in the United States by 
                        the year 2100;
                            (iii) wildfires that, by 2050, will 
                        annually burn at least twice as much forest 
                        area in the western United States than was 
                        typically burned by wildfires in the years 
                        preceding 2019;
                            (iv) a loss of more than 99 percent of all 
                        coral reefs on Earth;
                            (v) more than 350,000,000 more people to be 
                        exposed globally to deadly heat stress by 2050; 
                        and
                            (vi) a risk of damage to $1,000,000,000,000 
                        of public infrastructure and coastal real 
                        estate in the United States; and
                    (D) global temperatures must be kept below 1.5 
                degrees Celsius above pre-industrialized levels to 
                avoid the most severe impacts of a changing climate, 
                which will require--
                            (i) global reductions in greenhouse gas 
                        emissions from human sources of 40 to 60 
                        percent from 2010 levels by 2030; and
                            (ii) net-zero global emissions by 2050;
            (2) because the United States has historically been 
        responsible for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas 
        emissions, having emitted 20 percent of global greenhouse gas 
        emissions through 2014, and has a high technological capacity, 
        the United States must take a leading role in reducing 
        emissions through economic transformation;
            (3) the United States is currently experiencing several 
        related crises, with--
                    (A) life expectancy declining while basic needs, 
                such as clean air, clean water, healthy food, and 
                adequate health care, housing, transportation, and 
                education, are inaccessible to a significant portion of 
                the United States population;
                    (B) a 4-decade trend of wage stagnation, 
                deindustrialization, and anti-labor policies that has 
                led to--
                            (i) hourly wages overall stagnating since 
                        the 1970s despite increased worker 
                        productivity;
                            (ii) the third-worst level of socioeconomic 
                        mobility in the developed world before the 
                        Great Recession;
                            (iii) the erosion of the earning and 
                        bargaining power of workers in the United 
                        States; and
                            (iv) inadequate resources for public sector 
                        workers to confront the challenges of climate 
                        change at local, State, and Federal levels; and
                    (C) the greatest income inequality since the 1920s, 
                with--
                            (i) the top 1 percent of earners accruing 
                        91 percent of gains in the first few years of 
                        economic recovery after the Great Recession;
                            (ii) a large racial wealth divide amounting 
                        to a difference of 20 times more wealth between 
                        the average White family and the average Black 
                        family; and
                            (iii) a gender earnings gap that results in 
                        women earning approximately 80 percent as much 
                        as men, at the median;
            (4) climate change, pollution, and environmental 
        destruction have exacerbated systemic racial, regional, social, 
        environmental, and economic injustices (referred to in this 
        section as ``systemic injustices'') by disproportionately 
        affecting indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant 
        communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural 
        communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, 
        the unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth (referred to 
        in this section as ``frontline and vulnerable communities'');
            (5) climate change constitutes a direct threat to the 
        national security of the United States--
                    (A) by impacting the economic, environmental, and 
                social stability of countries and communities around 
                the world; and
                    (B) by acting as a threat multiplier;
            (6) the Federal Government-led mobilizations during World 
        War II and the New Deal created the greatest middle class that 
        the United States has ever seen, but many members of frontline 
        and vulnerable communities were excluded from many of the 
        economic and societal benefits of those mobilizations; and
            (7) a new national, social, industrial, and economic 
        mobilization on a scale not seen since World War II and the New 
        Deal era is a historic opportunity--
                    (A) to create millions of good, high-wage jobs in 
                the United States;
                    (B) to provide unprecedented levels of prosperity 
                and economic security for all people of the United 
                States; and
                    (C) to counteract systemic injustices.

SEC. 2. GREEN NEW DEAL POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States that--
            (1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to create a 
        Green New Deal--
                    (A) to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions 
                through a fair and just transition for all communities 
                and workers;
                    (B) to create millions of good, high-wage jobs and 
                ensure prosperity and economic security for all people 
                of the United States;
                    (C) to invest in the infrastructure and industry of 
                the United States to sustainably meet the challenges of 
                the 21st century;
                    (D) to secure for all people of the United States 
                for generations to come--
                            (i) clean air and water;
                            (ii) climate and community resiliency;
                            (iii) healthy food;
                            (iv) access to nature; and
                            (v) a sustainable environment; and
                    (E) to promote justice and equity by stopping 
                current, preventing future, and repairing historic 
                oppression of indigenous peoples, communities of color, 
                migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, 
                depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income 
                workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with 
                disabilities, and youth (referred to in this section as 
                ``frontline and vulnerable communities'');
            (2) the goals described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of 
        paragraph (1) (referred to in this section as the ``Green New 
        Deal goals'') should be accomplished through a 10-year national 
        mobilization (referred to in this section as the ``Green New 
        Deal mobilization'') that will require the following goals and 
        projects--
                    (A) building resiliency against climate change-
                related disasters, such as extreme weather, including 
                by leveraging funding and providing investments for 
                community-defined projects and strategies;
                    (B) repairing and upgrading the infrastructure in 
                the United States, including--
                            (i) by eliminating pollution and greenhouse 
                        gas emissions as much as technologically 
                        feasible;
                            (ii) by guaranteeing universal access to 
                        clean water;
                            (iii) by reducing the risks posed by 
                        climate impacts; and
                            (iv) by ensuring that any infrastructure 
                        bill considered by Congress addresses climate 
                        change;
                    (C) meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the 
                United States through clean, renewable, and zero-
                emission energy sources, including--
                            (i) by dramatically expanding and upgrading 
                        renewable power sources; and
                            (ii) by deploying new capacity;
                    (D) building or upgrading to energy-efficient, 
                distributed, and ``smart'' power grids, and ensuring 
                affordable access to electricity;
                    (E) upgrading all existing buildings in the United 
                States and building new buildings to achieve maximum 
                energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety, 
                affordability, comfort, and durability, including 
                through electrification;
                    (F) spurring massive growth in clean manufacturing 
                in the United States and removing pollution and 
                greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing and 
                industry as much as is technologically feasible, 
                including by expanding renewable energy manufacturing 
                and investing in existing manufacturing and industry;
                    (G) working collaboratively with farmers and 
                ranchers in the United States to remove pollution and 
                greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector 
                as much as is technologically feasible, including--
                            (i) by supporting family farming;
                            (ii) by investing in sustainable farming 
                        and land use practices that increase soil 
                        health; and
                            (iii) by building a more sustainable food 
                        system that ensures universal access to healthy 
                        food;
                    (H) overhauling transportation systems in the 
                United States to remove pollution and greenhouse gas 
                emissions from the transportation sector as much as is 
                technologically feasible, including through investment 
                in--
                            (i) zero-emission vehicle infrastructure 
                        and manufacturing;
                            (ii) clean, affordable, and accessible 
                        public transit; and
                            (iii) high-speed rail;
                    (I) mitigating and managing the long-term adverse 
                health, economic, and other effects of pollution and 
                climate change, including by providing funding for 
                community-defined projects and strategies;
                    (J) removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere 
                and reducing pollution by restoring natural ecosystems 
                through proven low-tech solutions that increase soil 
                carbon storage, such as land preservation and 
                afforestation;
                    (K) restoring and protecting threatened, 
                endangered, and fragile ecosystems through locally 
                appropriate and science-based projects that enhance 
                biodiversity and support climate resiliency;
                    (L) cleaning up existing hazardous waste and 
                abandoned sites, ensuring economic development and 
                sustainability on those sites;
                    (M) identifying other emission and pollution 
                sources and creating solutions to remove them; and
                    (N) promoting the international exchange of 
                technology, expertise, products, funding, and services, 
                with the aim of making the United States the 
                international leader on climate action, and to help 
                other countries achieve a Green New Deal;
            (3) a Green New Deal must be developed through transparent 
        and inclusive consultation, collaboration, and partnership with 
        frontline and vulnerable communities, labor unions, worker 
        cooperatives, civil society groups, academia, and businesses; 
        and
            (4) to achieve the Green New Deal goals and mobilization, a 
        Green New Deal will require the following goals and projects--
                    (A) providing and leveraging, in a way that ensures 
                that the public receives appropriate ownership stakes 
                and returns on investment, adequate capital (including 
                through community grants, public banks, and other 
                public financing), technical expertise, supporting 
                policies, and other forms of assistance to communities, 
                organizations, Federal, State, and local government 
                agencies, and businesses working on the Green New Deal 
                mobilization;
                    (B) ensuring that the Federal Government takes into 
                account the complete environmental and social costs and 
                impacts of emissions through--
                            (i) existing laws;
                            (ii) new policies and programs; and
                            (iii) ensuring that frontline and 
                        vulnerable communities shall not be adversely 
                        affected;
                    (C) providing resources, training, and high-quality 
                education, including higher education, to all people of 
                the United States, with a focus on frontline and 
                vulnerable communities, so that all people of the 
                United States may be full and equal participants in the 
                Green New Deal mobilization;
                    (D) making public investments in the research and 
                development of new clean and renewable energy 
                technologies and industries;
                    (E) directing investments to spur economic 
                development, deepen and diversify industry and business 
                in local and regional economies, and build wealth and 
                community ownership, while prioritizing high-quality 
                job creation and economic, social, and environmental 
                benefits in frontline and vulnerable communities, and 
                deindustrialized communities, that may otherwise 
                struggle with the transition away from greenhouse gas 
                intensive industries;
                    (F) ensuring the use of democratic and 
                participatory processes that are inclusive of and led 
                by frontline and vulnerable communities and workers to 
                plan, implement, and administer the Green New Deal 
                mobilization at the local level;
                    (G) ensuring that the Green New Deal mobilization 
                creates high-quality union jobs that pay prevailing 
                wages, hires local workers, offers training and 
                advancement opportunities, and guarantees wage and 
                benefit parity for workers affected by the transition;
                    (H) guaranteeing a job with a family-sustaining 
                wage, adequate family and medical leave, paid 
                vacations, and retirement security to all people of the 
                United States;
                    (I) strengthening and protecting the right of all 
                workers to organize, unionize, and collectively bargain 
                free of coercion, intimidation, and harassment;
                    (J) strengthening and enforcing labor, workplace 
                health and safety, antidiscrimination, and wage and 
                hour standards across all employers, industries, and 
                sectors;
                    (K) enacting and enforcing trade rules, procurement 
                standards, and border adjustments with strong labor and 
                environmental protections--
                            (i) to stop the transfer of jobs and 
                        pollution overseas; and
                            (ii) to grow domestic manufacturing in the 
                        United States;
                    (L) ensuring that public lands, waters, and oceans 
                are protected and that eminent domain is not abused;
                    (M) obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent 
                of indigenous peoples for all decisions that affect 
                indigenous peoples and their traditional territories, 
                honoring all treaties and agreements with indigenous 
                peoples, and protecting and enforcing the sovereignty 
                and land rights of indigenous peoples;
                    (N) ensuring a commercial environment where every 
                businessperson is free from unfair competition and 
                domination by domestic or international monopolies; and
                    (O) providing all people of the United States 
                with--
                            (i) high-quality health care;
                            (ii) affordable, safe, and adequate 
                        housing;
                            (iii) economic security; and
                            (iv) clean water, clean air, healthy and 
                        affordable food, and access to nature.




                                                        Calendar No. 27

116th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                              S. J. RES. 8

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION

 Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New 
                                 Deal.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           February 14, 2019

            Read the second time and placed on the calendar