[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 13 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 13

  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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 13, 2023

   Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
 Whitehouse, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Booker, Ms. Warren, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. 
  Blumenthal, Mr. Padilla, Mrs. Murray, Ms. Duckworth, and Mr. Welch) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
             the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                         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--

    (1) is fundamental to a free and ordered society; and

    (2) is preservative of 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 to the point that the national 
        fossil fuel-based energy system 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 a national energy system in which approximately 80 
        percent of the energy produced in the United States comes from fossil 
        fuels;
Whereas the United States is the largest producer of oil and gas in the world, 
        due in substantial part to the Federal Government--

    (1) leasing Federal public land and water for fossil fuel extraction; 
and

    (2) actively promoting, permitting, and subsidizing fossil fuel energy 
development and consumption;

Whereas there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that--

    (1) human-caused climate change is occurring;

    (2) the scale of recent changes across the climate system is 
unprecedented in a multimillennial context; and

    (3) the accelerated rate of global heating, glacier and ice sheet 
melting, sea level rise, and ocean acidification as of April 2023 is a 
result of the buildup of atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions, primarily 
carbon dioxide emissions, largely from the combustion of fossil fuels;

Whereas the accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to an annual 
        average of 419 parts per million in 2022 has caused a dangerous 
        planetary energy imbalance, equivalent to the quantity of energy of 
        exploding more than 400,000 atomic bombs of the kind dropped on 
        Hiroshima, Japan, per day, 365 days per year, across the planet;
Whereas the latest climate science and real-world observations of that 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 that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide were 
        around 400 parts per million--

    (1) the seas were up to 70 to 90 feet higher;

    (2) the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets largely collapsed; and

    (3) coral reefs suffered a major extinction;

Whereas similar conditions will result if the United States does not drastically 
        reduce carbon dioxide emissions in addition to naturally sequester and 
        draw down excess concentrations of carbon dioxide already in the 
        atmosphere from cumulative historic emissions during the 21st century;
Whereas the longer the length of time atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations 
        remain at dangerous levels, the greater the risk of locking-in dangerous 
        warming-driven feedback loops and triggering accelerated heating and 
        irreversible catastrophic impact;
Whereas climate change is a threat to national security, as climate change 
        contributes to and exacerbates global instability and conflict;
Whereas the generation of today's children was born into a climate system made 
        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 per 
        unit of body weight, unique behavior patterns, dependence on caregivers, 
        and longevity on the planet;
Whereas human-caused climate change is a public health emergency that is 
        adversely and disproportionately impacting the physical health of 
        children through--

    (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, which cause--

    G    (A) 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; and

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

    (3) 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, which expose children--

    G    (A) to wildfire smoke that causes substantial eye symptoms;

    G    (B) to debilitating headaches and nausea; and

    G    (C) to upper and lower respiratory symptoms that lead to increased 
rates of asthma-related hospitalizations and emergency room visits;

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

    (5) increases in higher pollen concentrations and longer pollen season 
that contribute to allergic rhinitis, where 8.4 percent of children suffer 
from allergic rhinitis;

    (6) altered infectious disease patterns;

    (7) increases in food and water insecurity; and

    (8) other effects;

Whereas the best scientific information available projects a 15- to 30-foot rise 
        in sea level by the year 2100 if 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 children 
        affected, until a time when levels of carbon dioxide 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 the mental health of 
        children 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 shelter;

    (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 effects of climate change on children will--

    (1) increase in severity and in terms of the number of children 
impacted and exposed to dangerous conditions; and

    (2) cost the United States billions of dollars per year by the end of 
the 21st 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 cost 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 have been subjugated to the interests of adults;
Whereas children on the frontlines of human-caused climate change across the 
        United States and globally have risen up and called on government 
        leaders around the world to take concrete, science-based, and equitable 
        action--

    (1) to address human-caused climate change; and

    (2) 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 in 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--

    G    (A) to reside in areas with greater exposure to air pollution;

    G    (B) to experience long-term exposure; and

    G    (C) to 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 carbon dioxide concentrations must be reduced to less 
        than 350 parts per million by the end of the 21st century, with further 
        reductions thereafter, to restore the energy balance of the planet, 
        stabilize the climate system, and protect the ice sheets and oceans for 
        posterity;
Whereas existing 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 emissions from fossil fuels in the 
        United States;
Whereas numerous experts have concluded that there are multiple technically and 
        economically feasible pathways to place all sectors of the economy of 
        the United States on an emissions-reduction path consistent with 
        returning global atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million by 
        2100;
Whereas producing energy in the United States with non-carbon emitting sources 
        will--

    (1) 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 in the energy sector 
and the supply chain; and

    (2) 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 Federal departments and agencies can exercise authority 
        delegated by Congress to prevent and respond to climate change, 
        including--

    (1) 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;

    (2) the Department of Agriculture;

    (3) the Department of Commerce;

    (4) the Department of Defense;

    (5) the Department of Energy;

    (6) the Department of the Interior;

    (7) the Department of State;

    (8) the Department of Transportation; and

    (9) the Environmental Protection Agency: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) leadership by the United States is still urgently 
        needed to address the human-caused climate crisis that 
        disproportionately affects the health, economic opportunity, 
        and fundamental rights of the children of 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 that--
                            (i) is prepared by Federal departments and 
                        agencies pursuant to delegated authority over 
                        energy and climate policy; and
                            (ii) upholds the fundamental rights of 
                        children and puts the United States on a 
                        trajectory consistent with reducing global 
                        atmospheric carbon dioxide to less than 350 
                        parts per million by 2100.
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