[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 37 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 37
Expressing the sense of Congress that there is a climate emergency
which demands a massive-scale mobilization to halt, reverse, and
address its consequences and causes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 2, 2023
Mr. Blumenauer (for himself, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Lee of California,
Ms. Barragan, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Casar,
Ms. Chu, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Doggett,
Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Evans, Mr. Gomez, Ms. Norton, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon,
Mr. Huffman, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr.
Lieu, Ms. Meng, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Omar, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Pocan, Ms.
Porter, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr.
Schiff, Ms. Stansbury, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Velazquez,
Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Frost, Ms. Bush, Mr. Garcia of
Illinois, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Escobar, Mr. Takano, Mr.
Khanna, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Johnson of Georgia,
Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Beyer, Ms. Balint, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Panetta, Ms.
Jacobs, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Williams of Georgia,
and Mr. Lynch) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress that there is a climate emergency
which demands a massive-scale mobilization to halt, reverse, and
address its consequences and causes.
Whereas the 8 warmest years on record have now occurred since 2014, with 2016 as
the hottest year recorded, and each of the past 4 decades have been
warmer than the preceding decade;
Whereas global atmospheric concentrations of the primary global warming
pollutant, carbon dioxide--
(1) have increased, primarily due to human activities, including the
burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, by 40 percent since
preindustrial times, from 280 parts per million to 415 parts per million;
(2) are rising at a rate of 2 to 3 parts per million annually; and
(3) must be reduced to not more than 350 parts per million, and likely
lower, ``if humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which
civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted,'' according
to former National Aeronautics and Space Administration climatologist Dr.
James Hansen;
Whereas global atmospheric concentrations of other global warming pollutants,
including methane, nitrous oxide, and hydrofluorocarbons, have also
increased substantially since preindustrial times, primarily due to
human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels;
Whereas climate science and observations of climate change impacts, including
ocean warming, ocean acidification, floods, droughts, wildfires, and
extreme weather, demonstrate that a global rise in concentrations of
global warming pollutants is already having dangerous impacts on human
populations and the environment;
Whereas with the current 1.1 degrees Celsius of warming above preindustrial
levels, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration finds that
climate change is already increasing the frequency of extreme weather
and other climate-related disasters, including drought, wildfire, and
storms that include precipitation;
Whereas the overall costs for such disasters for the United States in 2022 was
roughly $165 billion, the third highest recorded total costs, including
18 separate weather and climate disasters costing at least 1 billion
dollars each and caused at least 474 direct or indirect known
fatalities;
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds there are wide-
ranging, acute, and fatal public health consequences from climate change
that impact communities across the United States;
Whereas, according to the National Climate and Health Assessment of the United
States Global Change Research Program, climate change is a significant
threat to the health of the people of the United States, leading to
increased--
(1) temperature-related deaths and illnesses;
(2) air quality impacts;
(3) extreme weather events;
(4) numbers of vector-borne diseases;
(5) waterborne illnesses;
(6) food safety, nutrition, and distribution complications; and
(7) mental health and well-being concerns;
Whereas environmental and public health threats from climate change and climate
disasters are not randomly distributed and disproportionately affect
low-income communities and communities of color;
Whereas the consequences of climate change are felt most severely by frontline
communities and endanger populations made especially vulnerable by
existing exposure to extreme weather events, such as children, the
elderly, and individuals with preexisting disabilities and health
conditions;
Whereas individuals and families on the frontlines of climate change across the
United States, including territories, living with income inequality and
poverty, institutional racism, inequity on the basis of gender and
sexual orientation, poor infrastructure, and lack of access to health
care, housing, clean water, and food security are often in close
proximity to environmental stressors or sources of pollution,
particularly communities of color, indigenous communities, and low-
income communities, which--
(1) are often the first exposed to the impacts of climate change;
(2) experience outsized risk because of the close proximity of the
community to environmental hazards and stressors, in addition to
collocation with waste and other sources of pollution; and
(3) have the fewest resources to mitigate those impacts or to relocate,
which will exacerbate preexisting challenges;
Whereas climate change holds grave and immediate consequences not just for the
population of the United States, including territories, but for
communities across the world, particularly those communities in the
Global South on the front lines of the climate crisis that are at risk
of forced displacement;
Whereas the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the intelligence
community have identified climate change as a threat to national
security, and the Department of Homeland Security views climate change
as a top national security risk;
Whereas the climatic changes resulting from global warming above 1.5 degrees
Celsius above preindustrial levels, including changes resulting from
global warming of more than 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial
levels, are projected to result in irreversible, catastrophic changes to
public health, livelihoods, quality of life, food security, water
supplies, human security, and economic growth;
Whereas even with global warming up to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial
levels, the planet is projected to experience--
(1) a significant rise in sea levels;
(2) extraordinary loss of biodiversity; and
(3) intensifying droughts, floods, wildfires, and other extreme weather
events;
Whereas, according to climate scientists, addressing the climate emergency will
require a just phase-out of the use of oil, gas, and coal in order to
keep the carbon that is the primary constituent of fossil fuels in the
ground and out of the atmosphere;
Whereas in 2022 some of the world's largest oil and gas companies reported
record annual profits and rewarded shareholders with buybacks while
knowingly exacerbating the ongoing climate crisis;
Whereas the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has
determined that limiting warming through emissions reduction and carbon
sequestration will require rapid and immediate acceleration and
proliferation of ``far-reaching, multilevel, and cross-sectoral climate
mitigation'' and ``transitions in energy, land, urban and rural
infrastructure (including transport and buildings), and industrial
systems'';
Whereas, in August 2022, the United States took its single most aggressive
action to tackle the climate crisis and transition to create renewable
energy solutions when the Inflation Reduction Act (in this resolution
referred to as the ``IRA'') was signed into law by President Biden;
Whereas the IRA includes $369 billion for energy security and climate change,
including investments in disadvantaged communities, projects that
repurpose retired fossil fuel infrastructure and employ displaced
workers, and setting the United States on course for a renewable energy
transition as soon as possible;
Whereas the IRA creates new environmental justice block grants, establishes
renewable energy financing, provides funding for Tribal communities to
boost climate resilience, makes it more affordable to purchase energy
efficient and electric appliances, incentivizes domestic manufacturing
of renewable energy technologies, and will boost the renewable energy
economy;
Whereas the passage of the IRA is projected to reduce the United States global
warming emissions between 31 percent to 44 percent below 2005 levels by
2030;
Whereas the UN Environment Programme still found in October 2022 that the
existing commitments made in the Nationally Determined Contributions
since the 2015 Paris Climate Conference are insufficient to limit
warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius;
Whereas urgent governmental action is still required to address the severe
environmental, economic, social, public health, and national security
threats posed by the climate crisis;
Whereas the massive scope and scale of action necessary to stabilize the climate
will continue to require unprecedented levels of public awareness,
engagement, and deliberation to develop and implement effective, just,
and equitable policies to address the climate crisis;
Whereas the United States has a proud history of collaborative, constructive,
massive-scale Federal mobilizations of resources and labor in order to
solve great challenges, such as the Interstate Highway System, the
Apollo 11 Moon landing, Reconstruction, the New Deal, and World War II;
Whereas the Constitution of the United States protects the fundamental rights to
life, liberty, property, and equal protection of the laws, and a climate
system capable of sustaining human life is fundamental to a free and
ordered society as well as the preservation of our fundamental rights;
Whereas 18 national governments across the world and the European Union have
declared a climate emergency, as well as the State of Hawaii and more
than 190 other cities, counties, and local jurisdictions in the United
States;
Whereas the United States maintains existing resources and international
commitments for bilateral and multilateral assistance to support
economically emerging countries, including the Green Climate Fund, the
Clean Technology Fund, the Adaptation Fund, the Least Developed
Countries Fund, and the International Sustainable Landscapes programs,
that should be supported with robust funding levels;
Whereas President Biden also maintains existing Executive authority under the
National Environmental Policy Act, the Mineral Leasing Act, the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production
Act, the Clean Water Act, the Natural Gas Act, and the Clean Air Act
that can be used to address the ongoing climate crisis;
Whereas, under these existing authorities, the President can phase down the rate
of fossil fuel production on federal lands and in federal waters, limit
gas exports, halt approval of new fossil fuel infrastructure projects,
establish national limits for greenhouse gases, and decarbonize
transportation;
Whereas a national climate emergency declaration would further unlock the broad
powers of the National Emergency Act, the Defense Production Act, and
the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act;
Whereas such a declaration can be used to further reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, address environmental injustice, invest in large scale
mitigation and resiliency projects, create additional jobs with family
sustaining wages and benefits, and ensure a just transition to a
renewable energy economy;
Whereas such a declaration will allow the United States to further mobilize
domestic industry, ramp up domestic manufacturing of renewable energy
technologies, and deploy resilient energy infrastructure;
Whereas such a declaration can also reinstate the ban on crude oil exports,
suspend offshore fossil fuel leases, curb fossil fuel imports, and stop
the hundreds of billions of dollars in investments in fossil fuel
projects abroad while taking additional steps toward strengthening our
emergency preparedness for thousands of high-risk communities;
Whereas such a declaration necessitates the adoption of policies and processes
rooted in principles of racial equity, self-determination, and
democracy, as well as the fundamental human rights of all people to
clean air and water, healthy food, adequate land, education, and
shelter, as promulgated in the 1991 Principles of Environmental Justice;
Whereas front-line communities, Tribal Governments and communities, people of
color, and labor unions must be equitably and actively engaged in a
national climate emergency declaration, in such a way that aligns with
the 1996 Jemez Principles of Democratic Organizing, and prioritized
through local climate mitigation and adaptation planning, policy, and
program delivery so that workers in the United States, and the
communities of those workers, are guaranteed a strong, viable economic
future; and
Whereas the United States has an obligation, as a primary driver of accelerated
climate change, to mobilize at emergency speed to ensure the safest
climate and environment possible not just for communities of the United
States but for communities across the world, particularly those on the
front lines of the climate crisis which have least contributed to the
crisis, and to account for global and community impacts of any actions
it takes in response to the climate crisis: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That it is the sense of Congress that-
(1) climate change caused by human activities, which
increase emissions of greenhouse gases, constitutes a climate
emergency that--
(A) severely and urgently impacts the economic and
social well-being, health, safety, and national
security of the United States; and
(B) demands that the President wield both existing
authorities and emergency powers to ensure a national,
social, industrial, and economic mobilization of the
resources and labor of the United States at a massive
scale to mitigate and prepare for the consequences of
the climate emergency for current and future
generations; and
(2) nothing in this concurrent resolution constitutes a
declaration of a national emergency for the purposes of any Act
of Congress authorizing the exercise, during the period of a
national emergency or other type of declared emergency, of any
special or extraordinary power.
<all>