[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 17, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4913-S4914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 22--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

  Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Booker, 
Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Warren, and Ms. Harris) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works:

                            S. Con. Res. 22

       Whereas 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 were the 4 hottest years 
     on record and the 20 warmest years on record have occurred 
     within the past 22 years;
       Whereas global atmospheric concentrations of the primary 
     heat-trapping gas, or greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide--
       (1) have increased by 40 percent since preindustrial times, 
     from 280 parts per million to 415 parts per million, 
     primarily due to human activities, including burning fossil 
     fuels and deforestation;
       (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 
     greenhouse gases, including methane, nitrous oxide, and 
     hydrofluorocarbons, have also increased substantially since 
     preindustrial times, primarily due to human activities, 
     including burning fossil fuels;
       Whereas current climate science and real-world observations 
     of climate change impacts, including ocean warming and 
     acidification, floods, droughts, wildfires, and extreme 
     weather, demonstrate that a global rise in temperatures of 1 
     degree Celsius above preindustrial levels is already having 
     dangerous impacts on human populations and the environment;
       Whereas the 2018 National Climate Assessment found that 
     climate change due to global warming has caused, and is 
     expected to cause additional, substantial interference with 
     and growing losses to infrastructure, property, industry, 
     recreation, natural resources, agricultural systems, human 
     health and safety, and quality of life in the United States;
       Whereas the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
     has determined 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 climate-related natural disasters have increased 
     exponentially over the past decade, costing the United States 
     more than double the long-term average during the period of 
     2014 through 2018, with total costs of natural disasters 
     during that period of approximately $100,000,000,000 per 
     year;
       Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have 
     found wide-ranging, acute, and fatal public health 
     consequences from climate change that impact communities 
     across the United States;
       Whereas the National Climate and Health Assessment of the 
     United States Global Change Research Program identified 
     climate change as 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 the consequences of climate change already 
     disproportionately impact frontline communities and endanger 
     populations made especially vulnerable by existing exposure 
     to extreme weather events,

[[Page S4914]]

     such as children, the elderly, and individuals with pre-
     existing 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) experience outsized risk because of the close proximity 
     of the community to environmental hazards and stressors, in 
     addition to colocation with waste and other sources of 
     pollution;
       (2) are often the first exposed to the impacts of climate 
     change; and
       (3) have the fewest resources to mitigate those impacts or 
     to relocate, which will exacerbate preexisting challenges;
       Whereas, according to Dr. Robert Bullard and Dr. Beverly 
     Wright, ``environmental and public health threats from 
     natural and human-made disasters are not randomly 
     distributed,'' therefore a response to the climate emergency 
     necessitates the adoption of just community transition 
     policies and processes available to all communities, which 
     include policies and processes rooted in principles of racial 
     and socio-economic equity, self-determination, and democracy, 
     as well as the fundamental human right of all people to clean 
     air and water, healthy food, health care, adequate land, 
     education, and shelter;
       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 frontlines of the climate crisis, which are at risk of 
     forced displacement;
       Whereas communities in rural, urban, and suburban areas are 
     all dramatically affected by climate change, though the 
     specific economic, health, social, and environmental impacts 
     may be different;
       Whereas the United States Department of State, Department 
     of Defense, and intelligence community have identified 
     climate change as a threat to national security, and the 
     Department of Homeland Security views climate change as a top 
     homeland security risk;
       Whereas climate change is a threat multiplier--
       (1) with the potential to exacerbate many of the challenges 
     the United States already confronts, including conflicts over 
     scarce resources, conditions conducive to violent extremism, 
     and the spread of infectious diseases; and
       (2) because climate change has the potential to produce 
     new, unforeseeable challenges in the future;
       Whereas, in 2018, the United Nations Intergovernmental 
     Panel on Climate Change projected that the Earth could warm 
     1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels as early as 
     2030;
       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, in 2019, the United Nations Intergovernmental 
     Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem 
     Services found that human-induced climate change is pushing 
     the planet toward the sixth mass species extinction, which 
     threatens the food security, water supply, and well-being of 
     billions of people;
       Whereas, according to climate scientists, limiting warming 
     to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial 
     levels, and likely lower, is most likely to avoid 
     irreversible and catastrophic climate change;
       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, prodigious floods, devastating 
     wildfires, and other extreme weather events;
       Whereas, according to climate scientists, addressing the 
     climate emergency will require an economically just and 
     managed phase-out oil, gas, and coal to keep fossil fuels in 
     the ground;
       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 the United States, massive, comprehensive, and 
     urgent governmental action is required immediately to achieve 
     the transitions of those systems in response to the severe 
     existing and projected 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 require unprecedented levels of 
     public awareness, engagement, and deliberation to develop and 
     implement effective, just, and equitable policies to address 
     the climate crisis;
       Whereas failure to mobilize to solve the climate emergency 
     is antithetical to the spirit of the Declaration of 
     Independence in protecting ``unalienable Rights'' that 
     include ``Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness'';
       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 United States stands uniquely poised to 
     substantially grow the economy and attain social and health 
     benefits from a massive mobilization of resources and labor 
     that far outweigh the costs of inaction;
       Whereas millions of middle class jobs can be created by 
     raising labor standards through project labor agreements and 
     protecting and expanding the right of workers to organize so 
     that workers in the United States and the communities of 
     those workers are guaranteed a strong, viable economic future 
     in a zero-emissions economy that guarantees good jobs at fair 
     union wages, with quality benefits;
       Whereas frontline communities, Tribal governments and 
     communities, people of color, and labor unions must be 
     equitably and actively engaged in the climate mobilization 
     and prioritized through local climate mitigation and 
     adaptation planning, policy, and program delivery so that 
     workers in the United States, the communities of those 
     workers, are guaranteed a strong, viable economic future;
       Whereas a number of local jurisdictions and governments in 
     the United States, including New York City and Los Angeles, 
     and across the world, including the United Kingdom, the 
     Republic of Ireland, Portugal, and Canada, have already 
     declared a climate emergency, and a number of State and local 
     governments are considering declaring a climate emergency in 
     response to the massive challenges posed by the climate 
     crisis;
       Whereas State, local, and Tribal governments must be 
     supported in efforts to hold to account actors whose 
     activities have deepened and accelerated the climate crisis 
     and who have benefitted from delayed action to address the 
     climate change emergency and to develop a fossil fuel-free 
     economy;
       Whereas a collaborative response to the climate crisis will 
     require the Federal Government to work with international, 
     State, and local governments, including with those 
     governments that have declared a climate emergency, to 
     reverse the impacts of the climate crisis; and
       Whereas the United States has an obligation, as a driver of 
     accelerated climate change, to mobilize at emergency speed to 
     restore a safe climate and environment not just for 
     communities of the United States, including territories, but 
     for communities across the world, particularly those on the 
     frontlines of the climate crisis who 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 Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the global warming caused by human activities, which 
     increase emissions of greenhouse gases, has resulted in a 
     climate emergency that--
       (A) severely and urgently impacts the economic and social 
     well-being, health and safety, and national security of the 
     United States; and
       (B) demands a national, social, industrial, and economic 
     mobilization of the resources and labor of the United States 
     at a massive-scale to halt, reverse, mitigate, and prepare 
     for the consequences of the climate emergency and to restore 
     the climate for future generations; and
       (2) nothing in this concurrent resolution constitutes a 
     declaration of a national emergency for 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.

                          ____________________