IV 

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. 

BARRAGA ́N, 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. CA ́RDENAS, 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. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California, Mr. GARCI ́A 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 


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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; 


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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 CO2 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; 


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Whereas the last time atmospheric concentration of CO2 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 CO2 emissions in addition to 

naturally sequestering and drawing down excess concentrations of CO2 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 


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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 afVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Jul 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC56.IH HC56

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fected children, until such time as levels of CO2 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 humancaused climate change, and further increases in the global temperature will saddle children with an enormous, 


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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 


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(4) have less access to resources needed to cope with 

climate-related impacts; 

Whereas global atmospheric CO2 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 CO2 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, 


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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 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) United States leadership is still urgently 

4 needed to act to address the human-caused climate 

5 crisis that disproportionately affects the health, eco6 nomic opportunity, and fundamental rights of chil7 dren in the United States; and 

8 (2) there is a human-caused climate crisis 

9 that— 

10 (A) has inspired children across the United 

11 States to organize and demand immediate gov12 ernment action to protect their fundamental 

13 rights from the perils of climate change; and 

14 (B) demands a national, comprehensive, 

15 science-based, and just climate recovery plan 

16 prepared by the departments and agencies of 

17 the executive branch with delegated authority 

18 over energy and climate policy, that puts the 

19 United States on a trajectory consistent with 

20 reducing global atmospheric CO2 to below 350 


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1 parts per million by the year 2100 to uphold 

2 children’s fundamental rights. 

Æ 


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