[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 126 (Thursday, July 25, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E993-E994]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF GEOGRAPHERS RESOLUTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES P. MCGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 25, 2019

  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I rise to include in the Record the 
following resolution on climate change, adopted by the American 
Association of Geographers on April 3, 2019.

     [From the American Association of Geographers, April 3, 2019]

                   AAG Resolution on Climate Change 1

                      (Adopted by the AAG Council)

       Whereas: The American Association of Geographers (AAG) is a 
     nonprofit scientific and educational society founded in 1904 
     with close to 12,000 members in 2019 who are located in the 
     United States and nearly 100 other countries;
       Whereas: The objectives of the Association are to further 
     professional investigations in geography and to encourage the 
     application of geographic findings in education, government, 
     and business;
       Whereas: Gilbert F. White (1911-2006) was among the most 
     distinguished and honored American geographers of the 20th 
     Century who stimulated efforts to foster and improve human 
     adjustments to the risks of our endangered planet through 
     better-informed public and private sector decision-making;
       Whereas: Gilbert F. White was awarded the National Medal of 
     Science by President Clinton in 2000 for ``major 
     contributions to the study of water systems in developing 
     countries, global environmental change, international 
     cooperation, nuclear winter, geography education and the 
     mitigation of natural hazards including earthquakes, 
     hurricanes, and drought;''
       Whereas: The planet is now experiencing more frequent, more 
     intense, and more costly disasters associated with 
     anthropogenic climate change in the forms of prolonged 
     drought, wildfires, intensified hurricanes, coastal and river 
     flooding and extreme temperatures. Deglaciation of 
     mountainous regions threatens water supplies and hydropower 
     generation for hundreds of millions of people in Asia, 
     Europe, western Latin America, and the Pacific Northwest. 
     Accelerated melting of Arctic and Antarctic land ice will 
     cause rising sea levels to inundate portions of coastal 
     cities worldwide by mid-century;
       Whereas: At the global scale, the last four years have been 
     the hottest on record. One-fifth of all corals have died in 
     the past three years. World carbon emissions rose 2.7 percent 
     in 2018 despite efforts by many nations to meet the goals of 
     the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement;
       Whereas: As climate change renders vast areas of the globe 
     uninhabitable, mass population migrations and competition for 
     water, arable land, and living space will heighten the 
     likelihood of armed conflict, either conventional or nuclear;
       Whereas: Gilbert F. White challenged professional 
     geographers to study and communicate the risks of our 
     endangered planet and to help stimulate responsible policies 
     and decisions by all sectors of human society;
       Therefore be it resolved that: In the spirit of Gilbert F. 
     White, the American Association of Geographers urges the 
     Government of the United States to resume its leadership in 
     combating climate change, including (but not limited to) 
     strategies that:
       1. Recognize human activities as the preeminent cause of 
     accelerating climate change, as emphatically concluded by the 
     International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Fourth 
     U.S. National Climate Assessment, among many other 
     authoritative studies around the world;
       2. Reaffirm U.S. commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, 
     and--in cooperation with the international community--
     intensify efforts to limit emissions of greenhouse gasses to 
     control further rise in global temperatures;
       3. Ratify Kigali Amendment of the Montreal Protocol to 
     limit hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) production and consumption;
       4. Encourage transition of the U.S. economy to embrace 
     energy conservation and substitution of sustainable energy 
     sources in place of fossil fuels;
       5. Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through 
     incentives, taxes, regulations, public transit, carbon 
     recapture and other means;
       6. Promote continued innovation by states and local 
     governments and the private sector to conserve energy and 
     reduce dependence on fossil fuels (e.g. through ``LEED'' 
     green building codes, reforestation and reduced 
     deforestation, watershed management, sustainable 
     transportation, and other means);

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       7. Stimulate public and private sector decision-makers to 
     prepare for rapid-onset impacts of climate change (e.g. 
     wildfire, electrical grid failure, fuel and water shortages, 
     and coastal flooding) through enhanced emergency response, 
     relief, and recovery capabilities;
       8. Reaffirm that climate change policy at all levels of 
     society from international to local must be based on sound, 
     verifiable science as reflected in the IPCC reports, the U.S. 
     National Climate Assessment Reports, and other authoritative 
     studies by scientists around the world;
       Be it further resolved that: The AAG will publicize this 
     resolution to government leaders, to other scientific bodies, 
     and to the general public through a press release and other 
     available means. The MG should further encourage its 
     membership to stimulate public understanding of climate 
     change and its potential impacts (including armed conflicts) 
     through relevant research, teaching, publications, and 
     participation in public forums, study panels, oped columns, 
     blog posts, and other available means.

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