[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 56 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 56

  Recognizing that the climate crisis disproportionately affects the 
   health, economic opportunity, and fundamental rights of children, 
 expressing the sense of Congress that leadership by the United States 
      is still urgently needed to address the climate crisis, and 
  acknowledging the need of the United States to develop a national, 
 comprehensive, science-based, and just climate recovery plan to phase 
     out fossil fuel emissions, protect and enhance natural carbon 
 sequestration, and put the United States on a path toward stabilizing 
                          the climate system.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 13, 2023

 Ms. Schakowsky (for herself, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. 
 Barragan, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Omar, 
  Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Trone, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Cohen, Mr. 
  Lynch, Ms. Norton, Ms. Chu, Ms. Bush, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Johnson of 
Georgia, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Jackson 
Lee, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mrs. Trahan, 
  Ms. McCollum, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. 
 Clarke of New York, Ms. Titus, Ms. Stansbury, Ms. Wilson of Florida, 
   Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
  McGovern, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Frost, Ms. Ross, Ms. 
 Jacobs, Mr. Morelle, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Velazquez, Mrs. 
Watson Coleman, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Robert Garcia of California, Mr. 
 Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Salinas, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Soto, 
 Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Mr. Connolly, Mr. 
Vargas, Ms. Meng, Mr. Thanedar, Ms. DeLauro, and Ms. Pingree) submitted 
    the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing that the climate crisis disproportionately affects the 
   health, economic opportunity, and fundamental rights of children, 
 expressing the sense of Congress that leadership by the United States 
      is still urgently needed to address the climate crisis, and 
  acknowledging the need of the United States to develop a national, 
 comprehensive, science-based, and just climate recovery plan to phase 
     out fossil fuel emissions, protect and enhance natural carbon 
 sequestration, and put the United States on a path toward stabilizing 
                          the climate system.

Whereas a stable climate system at the founding of the United States allowed 
        human life and human civilization to flourish;
Whereas the United States was founded on the deeply rooted principle of securing 
        ``the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity'';
Whereas the Constitution of the United States protects the fundamental rights to 
        life, liberty, property, and equal protection of the laws;
Whereas a climate system capable of sustaining human life is fundamental to a 
        free and ordered society and preserves other fundamental rights, 
        including the rights to life, liberty, property, personal security, 
        family autonomy, bodily integrity, and the ability to learn, practice, 
        and transmit cultural and religious traditions;
Whereas fossil fuel use for energy in the United States has increased since the 
        Industrial Revolution and accelerated such that the fossil fuel-based 
        energy system in the United States has led to carbon dioxide emissions 
        from the United States constituting more than \1/4\ of cumulative global 
        carbon dioxide emissions;
Whereas the Federal Government sets the energy policy of the United States, 
        which has resulted in an energy system in the United States in which 
        approximately 80 percent of the energy produced in the United States 
        comes from fossil fuels;
Whereas the United States is the world's largest producer of oil and gas, in 
        substantial part through the Federal Government's leasing of Federal 
        public lands and waters for fossil fuel extraction and through actively 
        promoting, permitting, and subsidizing fossil fuel energy development 
        and consumption;
Whereas there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that human-caused climate 
        change is occurring, that the scale of recent changes across the climate 
        system is unprecedented in a multimillennial context, and that the 
        present accelerated rate of global heating, glacier and ice sheet 
        melting, sea level rise, and ocean acidification is a result of the 
        buildup of atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions, primarily consisting of 
        carbon dioxide emissions, largely from the combustion of fossil fuels;
Whereas the accumulation of current atmospheric CO<INF>2</INF> levels to an 
        annual average of 419 parts per million (ppm) in 2022 has caused a 
        dangerous planetary energy imbalance, equivalent to the amount of energy 
        of exploding more than 400,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs per day, 365 days 
        per year, across the planet;
Whereas current climate science and real-world observations of the energy 
        imbalance demonstrate that the approximately 1 degree Celsius of warming 
        that has already occurred as a result of human-caused climate change is 
        already dangerous and negatively affecting all aspects of society and 
        the economy of the United States;
Whereas the last time atmospheric concentration of CO<INF>2</INF> was around 400 
        ppm, the seas were up to 70 to 90 feet higher, the Greenland and West 
        Antarctic ice sheets largely collapsed, and coral reefs suffered a major 
        extinction;
Whereas similar conditions will result if the United States does not drastically 
        reduce CO<INF>2</INF> emissions in addition to naturally sequestering 
        and drawing down excess concentrations of CO<INF>2</INF> already in the 
        atmosphere from cumulative historic emissions this century;
Whereas the longer the length of time atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations 
        remain at dangerous levels, the risk of locking in dangerous warming-
        driven feedback loops and triggering accelerated heating and 
        irreversible catastrophic impacts increases;
Whereas climate change is a threat to national security, as it contributes to 
        and exacerbates global instability and conflict;
Whereas today's children were born into a climate system that is harmful to 
        their health and well-being because of human-caused climate change;
Whereas children are uniquely vulnerable to human-caused climate change because 
        of their developing bodies, higher exposure to air, food, and water 
        relative to their body weight, unique behavior patterns, dependence on 
        caregivers, and longevity on the planet;
Whereas human-caused climate change is a public health emergency that adversely 
        and disproportionately impacts the physical health of children through, 
        among other impacts--

    (1) increases in extreme weather events, including increases in heavy 
rainfall, flooding, and hurricanes, that cause disruptive evacuations, 
school closures, and displacement;

    (2) increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme heat waves and 
rising temperatures that cause increased heat exposure and illness, which 
is a leading cause of death and illness in high school athletes, with 
nearly 10,000 episodes of heat illness occurring annually;

    (3) increases in infant mortality by 25 percent on extremely hot days, 
with the first 7 days of life representing a period of critical 
vulnerability;

    (4) increases in drier conditions and drought, leading to an earlier 
wildfire season peak, and increased wildfire season length, wildfire 
frequency, and extent of burned area, exposing children to wildfire smoke 
that causes substantial eye symptoms, debilitating headaches and nausea, 
and upper and lower respiratory symptoms that lead to increased rates of 
asthma-related hospitalizations and emergency room visits;

    (5) decreased air quality as children are especially susceptible to air 
pollution given their developing lungs, higher ventilation rate, and higher 
levels of physical activity;

    (6) increases in pollen concentration and a longer pollen season that 
contributes to allergic rhinitis, where 8.4 percent of children suffer from 
allergic rhinitis;

    (7) altered infectious disease patterns; and

    (8) increases in food and water insecurity;

Whereas the best scientific information available projects a 15- to 30-foot rise 
        in sea level by 2100 if current trends continue, with ever greater rises 
        and acceleration in subsequent centuries, resulting in increased erosion 
        and the loss of land, causing the loss of communities, homes, 
        infrastructure, agriculture, and coastal ecosystems for affected 
        children, until such time as levels of CO<INF>2</INF> in the atmosphere 
        are dramatically reduced, and steps are taken to cool the upper portion 
        of the ocean;
Whereas extreme weather events can negatively impact children's mental health 
        due to--

    (1) family loss or separation;

    (2) personal injury or injury of loved ones;

    (3) damage or loss to personal property and pets;

    (4) school interruption;

    (5) scarcities of food, water, and medicine;

    (6) public service outages;

    (7) displacement, along with the loss of a sense of home and a safe 
space;

    (8) loss of nature and cultural activities; and

    (9) feelings of uncertainty about the future and a belief that their 
government is not protecting them from climate change, all of which result 
in anxiety, trauma, shock, post-traumatic stress disorder, and chronic 
impacts;

Whereas, without immediate steps to address human-caused climate change, the 
        health impacts on children will increase in severity and in terms of the 
        number of children impacted and exposed to dangerous conditions, and 
        will cost the United States billions of dollars per year by the end of 
        the century, with costs growing more expensive as the accumulation of 
        greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases, and as chronic 
        psychological consequences of climate-related stress increase;
Whereas children will largely shoulder the costs of human-caused climate change, 
        and further increases in the global temperature will saddle children 
        with an enormous, perhaps incalculable, cost burden, undermining the 
        economic security of children and the United States;
Whereas, given their vulnerabilities, children are deserving of special 
        consideration and protection with respect to human-caused climate 
        change;
Whereas children are a politically powerless minority without economic or 
        political power to influence climate and energy policy, as they are 
        denied the right to vote until they become 18 years old, and their 
        interests are subjugated to the interests of adults;
Whereas children on the front lines of human-caused climate change across the 
        United States and globally have risen up and called upon government 
        leaders around the world to take concrete, science-based, and equitable 
        action to address human-caused climate change and to account for 
        intergenerational inequities to ensure environmental and climate justice 
        for their generation and future generations, including children from 
        vulnerable communities that have borne the brunt of climate change;
Whereas children within environmental justice communities, including communities 
        of color, low-income communities, and Indigenous communities, that have 
        contributed the least to emissions--

    (1) have long suffered from systemic environmental racism and social 
and economic injustices;

    (2) are more likely to reside in areas with greater exposure to air 
pollution, experience long-term exposure, and be disproportionately 
burdened by adverse health or environmental effects, including public 
health pandemics;

    (3) are subjected to disproportionate energy burdens; and

    (4) have less access to resources needed to cope with climate-related 
impacts;

Whereas global atmospheric CO<INF>2</INF> concentrations must be reduced to 
        below 350 ppm by the end of the century, with further reductions 
        thereafter, in order to restore the planet's energy balance, stabilize 
        the climate system, and protect the planet's ice sheets and oceans for 
        posterity;
Whereas current and future adverse public health and other impacts and costs to 
        children and the United States can be significantly mitigated if the 
        United States acts promptly to reduce its emissions from fossil fuels;
Whereas numerous experts have concluded that there are multiple technically and 
        economically feasible pathways to place all sectors of the United States 
        economy on an emissions reduction path consistent with returning global 
        atmospheric CO<INF>2</INF> to 350 ppm by 2100;
Whereas producing the energy in the United States with noncarbon-emitting 
        sources will result in energy costs within the range of recent 
        experience, ultimately saving consumers money and stabilizing the cost 
        of energy, while increasing the number of jobs across multiple sectors 
        and the supply chain, and result in many co-benefits, including public 
        health and quality-of-life improvements, the prevention of premature 
        death, infrastructural stability, and biodiversity protection; and
Whereas multiple executive departments and agencies with authority delegated by 
        Congress can exercise such authority to prevent and respond to climate 
        change, including the Executive Office of the President, the Council on 
        Environmental Quality, the Office of Management and Budget, and the 
        Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Department of Agriculture, 
        the Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense, the Department of 
        Energy, the Department of the Interior, the Department of State, the 
        Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) United States leadership is still urgently needed to 
        act to address the human-caused climate crisis that 
        disproportionately affects the health, economic opportunity, 
        and fundamental rights of children in the United States; and
            (2) there is a human-caused climate crisis that--
                    (A) has inspired children across the United States 
                to organize and demand immediate government action to 
                protect their fundamental rights from the perils of 
                climate change; and
                    (B) demands a national, comprehensive, science-
                based, and just climate recovery plan prepared by the 
                departments and agencies of the executive branch with 
                delegated authority over energy and climate policy, 
                that puts the United States on a trajectory consistent 
                with reducing global atmospheric CO<INF>2</INF> to 
                below 350 parts per million by the year 2100 to uphold 
                children's fundamental rights.
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