III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 155 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States should work 

in cooperation with the international community and continue to exercise 

global leadership to address the causes and effects of climate change, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 4, 2017 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. COONS, Mr. 

UDALL, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. KAINE, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. 

BOOKER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States 

should work in cooperation with the international community and continue to exercise global leadership to address the causes and effects of climate change, and for 

other purposes. 

Whereas the consensus among climatologists and scientists 

studying the effects of atmospheric change, including the 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the National Academy of Science, the United States Geological 

Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other agencies within the United States Global 

Change Research Program, have determined that the imVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:26 May 04, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR155.IS SR155

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pact of climate change will include widespread effects on 

health and welfare, including increased outbreaks from 

waterborne diseases, more droughts, diminished agricultural production, severe storms and floods, heat waves, 

wildfires, and a substantial rise in global sea levels; 

Whereas the objective of the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is to 

stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere 

at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference 

with the climate system; 

Whereas, under the UNFCCC, the United States is obligated 

to report its progress on reducing emissions; 

Whereas the Senate provided its advice and consent to the 

UNFCCC by division, with two-thirds of Senators 

present voting in the affirmative, on October 7, 1992; 

Whereas, in 2011, at the 17th Conference of the Parties 

(COP 17) to the UNFCCC in Durban, South Africa, parties agreed to negotiate an agreement by the end of 2015 

to reduce emissions in the post-2020 period; 

Whereas the UNFCCC calls on parties to submit intended 

nationally determined contributions outlining voluntary 

individual targets for emissions reductions by the time 

parties convened in Paris on November 30, 2015, for the 

21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the 

UNFCCC; 

Whereas, prior to completing the multilateral Paris Agreement on international cooperation to address climate 

change, done at Paris December 12, 2015, 187 nations, 

representing more than 97 percent of global greenhouse 

gas emissions, voluntarily submitted nationally deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:26 May 04, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR155.IS SR155

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mined goals and plans to reduce their greenhouse gas 

pollution; 

Whereas independent analyses by the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration confirmed that 2016 

was the warmest year on record, making 2015 the second 

warmest year on record and 2014 the third warmest year 

on record, continuing a 35 year-long warming trend with 

16 of the 17 warmest years on record occurring since 

2001; 

Whereas the United States-China Joint Announcement on 

Climate Change of November 2014 included a United 

States goal to reduce its emissions by 26–28 percent 

below 2005 levels by 2025 and a Chinese goal to peak 

emissions output by 2030 and increase the use of nonfossil fuels to 20 percent of its overall energy portfolio by 

2030; 

Whereas, under the United States-India Joint Announcement 

on Climate and Clean Energy of January 2015, the two 

countries pledged to increase cooperation on clean energy 

financing and development and India committed to phase 

out use of hydrofluorocarbons and increase promotion of 

energy efficiency tools and reaffirmed its commitment to 

add 100 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2022; 

Whereas small island states, whose people are among the 

most vulnerable to climate change, are threatened with 

partial or virtually total inundation by imminent rises in 

sea level and increased intensity and frequency of storms; 

Whereas global greenhouse gas emissions have remained level 

for the past three years, even while global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown; 


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Whereas United States international leadership on the global 

stage throughout the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 21st Conference of Parties 

process resulted in unprecedented international cooperation and engagement on the development of the Paris 

Agreement; 

Whereas the Paris Agreement received consensus approval 

from the more than 190 delegates to the United Nations 

Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 21st Conference of Parties; 

Whereas the Paris Agreement reached its thresholds for entry 

into force faster than any other multilateral international 

agreement of comparable size and scope; 

Whereas, as of the date of introduction of this resolution, 127 

of the 197 parties to the Paris Agreement, representing 

81.4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, have officially joined the agreement, demonstrating the urgency 

and importance the global community places on addressing climate change; 

Whereas the cost of inaction on climate change will have devastating impacts to the United States economy, costing 

billions of dollars in lost GDP; 

Whereas extreme weather, intensified by climate change, has 

already cost United States taxpayers billions of dollars 

each year in recovery efforts, and will continue to increase if climate change is left unaddressed; 

Whereas decreased GDP and increased costs of infrastructure 

repairs and other recovery efforts will significantly increase budget deficits and undermine the fiscal stability 

of the United States; 


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Whereas climate change will have devastating public health 

implications, including increased rates of asthma and 

other respiratory diseases, especially in vulnerable populations like children and low-income communities, the 

spread of infectious diseases, risks to food and water supplies, and increased premature deaths; 

Whereas the emissions reductions pledged by the United 

States under the Paris Agreement may save nearly 

300,000 lives in the United States by 2030 as a result 

of positive health outcomes corresponding to lower air 

pollution; 

Whereas studies conducted by the NASA Earth Observatory 

determined that as the oceans have warmed, polar ice has 

melted and porous landmasses have subsided, global 

mean sea level has risen by 8 inches (20 centimeters) 

since 1870, and the rate of sea level rise is faster now 

than at any time in the past 2,000 years, having doubled 

in the past two decades, putting 55 to 60 percent of 

United States citizens who live in counties touching the 

Atlantic or Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, or the 

Great Lakes at risk from the effects of sea level rise; 

Whereas the Department of Defense has identified climate 

change as a ‘‘threat multiplier’’ that will increase global 

instability and conflict with the potential to increase terrorism; 

Whereas the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review states that 

‘‘[t]he impacts of climate change may increase the frequency, scale, and complexity of future missions, including defense support to civil authorities, while at the same 

time undermining the capacity of our domestic installations to support training activities,’’ and notes that— 


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(1) climate change may exacerbate water scarcity 

and lead to sharp increases in food costs; 

(2) the pressures caused by climate change will influence resource competition while placing additional burdens on economies, societies, and governance institutions 

around the world; and 

(3) these effects are threat multipliers that will aggravate stressors abroad such as poverty, environmental 

degradation, political instability, and social tensions— 

conditions that can enable terrorist activity and other 

forms of violence; 

Whereas the Department of Defense report, ‘‘National Security Implications of Climate-Related Risks and a Changing Climate’’— 

(1) states that global climate change will have wideranging implications for United States national security 

interests over the foreseeable future because it will aggravate existing problems, such as poverty, social tensions, 

environmental degradation, ineffectual leadership, and 

weak political institutions, that threaten domestic stability in a number of countries; and 

(2) identifies four general areas of climate-related 

risks: persistently recurring conditions such as flooding, 

drought, and higher temperatures; more frequent and 

more severe extreme weather events; sea level rise and 

temperature changes; and decreases in Arctic ice cover, 

type, and thickness; 

Whereas the Director of National Intelligence’s 2017 Global 

Trends Report determined that— 

(1) changes in the climate will produce more extreme weather events and put greater stress on humans 


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and critical systems, including oceans, freshwater, and 

biodiversity; 

(2) these changes, in turn, will have direct and indirect social, economic, political, and security effects; and 

(3) extreme weather can trigger crop failures, wildfires, energy blackouts, infrastructure breakdown, supply 

chain breakdowns, migration, and infectious disease outbreaks, and will be more pronounced as people concentrate in climate vulnerable locations, such as cities, 

coastal areas, and water-stressed regions; 

Whereas the Department of Agriculture has determined that 

climate change is likely to diminish continued progress on 

global food security through production disruptions that 

lead to local availability limitations and price increases, 

interrupted transport conduits, and diminished food safety, among other causes; 

Whereas, according to the World Bank, 1,600,000,000 people 

currently live in countries and regions with absolute 

water scarcity and the number is expected to rise to 

2,800,000,000 people by 2025 due to the effects of climate change; 

Whereas the transition to a clean energy economy is feasible 

with existing technology; 

Whereas the transition to clean energy will create millions of 

jobs; 

Whereas the transition to clean energy will increase United 

States GDP and increase household income; 

Whereas the transition to clean energy will save billions of 

dollars in avoided health costs; 

Whereas the transition to clean energy will save lives and improve public health; 


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Whereas the transition to clean energy will lower energy costs 

for businesses and consumers; 

Whereas the transition to clean energy will unlock billions of 

dollars in private investment; and 

Whereas, more than half of all electrical generating capacity 

added in the world last year was renewable: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 

2 United States should— 

3 (1) work in cooperation with the international 

4 community and continue to exercise global leader5 ship in our shared responsibilities, including holding 

6 parties accountable for meeting their commitments, 

7 and address the causes and effects of climate 

8 change; 

9 (2) remain party to the Paris Agreement and 

10 the UNFCCC; 

11 (3) continue demonstrating strong leadership in 

12 implementing the Paris Agreement; 

13 (4) ensure that the development of the policies 

14 and procedures prescribed by the Paris Agreement 

15 achieve maximum benefits for the United States; 

16 and 

17 (5) implement its commitments under the Paris 

18 Agreement and the UNFCCC. 

Æ 


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