I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1618 

To require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and 

the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue an annual report 

to Congress projecting and accounting for the economic costs directly 

and indirectly caused by the impacts of climate change, to require the 

Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to establish a Federal Advisory Panel on the Economics of Climate Change, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2021 

Mr. CLEAVER (for himself, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. BUSH, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LEVIN of California, Ms. PRESSLEY, and Ms. JAYAPAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System and the Securities and Exchange Commission 

to issue an annual report to Congress projecting and 

accounting for the economic costs directly and indirectly 

caused by the impacts of climate change, to require 

the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to establish a Federal Advisory Panel on the Economics of 

Climate Change, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restructuring Environ5 mentally Sound Pensions in Order to Negate Disaster Act 

6 of 2021’’ or the ‘‘RESPOND Act of 2021’’. 

7 SEC. 2. CLIMATE CHANGE ECONOMIC COST REPORT. 

8 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Board of Gov10 ernors of the Federal Reserve System and the Securities 

11 and Exchange Commission shall jointly submit to Con12 gress a report that projects and accounts for the economic 

13 costs directly and indirectly caused by the impacts of cli14 mate change, which shall include an analysis of— 

15 (1) the effects that climate change has on the 

16 labor market, economic growth, public health, and 

17 other broad areas of the economy of the United 

18 States; 

19 (2) property and land damage from rising sea 

20 levels and extreme weather; and 

21 (3) the costs associated with natural disaster 

22 relief and mitigation. 


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1 SEC. 3. FEDERAL ADVISORY PANEL ON THE ECONOMICS OF 

2 CLIMATE CHANGE. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Federal Retirement 

4 Thrift Investment Board (referred to in this section as the 

5 ‘‘Board’’) shall establish a panel to be known as the ‘‘Fed6 eral Advisory Panel on the Economics of Climate Change’’ 

7 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Advisory Panel’’). 

8 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Panel shall 

10 consist of 9 members, appointed by the Board as fol11 lows: 

12 (A) Three members shall be chosen from 

13 among persons generally recognized for their 

14 impartiality, knowledge, and experience in the 

15 field of labor relations and pay policy. 

16 (B) Six members shall be chosen from 

17 among persons with expertise in local, national, 

18 or transnational financing that seeks to support 

19 mitigation and adaptation actions to combat cli20 mate change. 

21 (2) LIMITATION.—Not more than 3 members of 

22 the Advisory Panel may represent a single employee 

23 organization, council, federation, alliance, associa24 tion, or affiliation of employee organizations. 


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1 (3) CHAIR.—The Board shall select a member 

2 of the Advisory Panel appointed under paragraph 

3 (1)(A) to serve as the Chair of the Advisory Panel. 

4 (4) COMPENSATION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Advi6 sory Panel— 

7 (i) may not receive pay by reason of 

8 the service of the member on the Advisory 

9 Panel; and 

10 (ii) shall not be considered to be an 

11 employee of the Federal Government solely 

12 because of the service of the member on 

13 the Advisory Panel. 

14 (B) EXPENSES.—Notwithstanding sub15 paragraph (A), a member of the Advisory Panel 

16 appointed under paragraph (1)(A) may be paid 

17 expenses in accordance with section 5703 of 

18 title 5, United States Code. 

19 (c) DUTIES.—The Advisory Panel shall— 

20 (1) advise the Board on how, consistent with 

21 the fiduciary duties of the Board, the Board can 

22 make investments in a manner that helps ensure 

23 that the United States achieves net zero greenhouse 

24 gas emissions not later than 2050; 


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1 (2) identify possible investment opportunities in 

2 clean and renewable energy and other emerging in3 dustries that would maximize returns; 

4 (3) produce a comparative analysis comparing 

5 the fiduciary efficacy and responsibility of existing 

6 investment practices of the Board with the invest7 ment strategies described in paragraph (1); and 

8 (4) advise the Board on how to identify, assess, 

9 and manage the investment risks and opportunities 

10 of climate change and prepare for a transition to a 

11 low-carbon economy. 

12 (d) EXAMINATION.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the duties of 

14 the Advisory Panel under subsection (c), the Advi15 sory Panel shall examine the following: 

16 (A) Economic and policy challenges facing 

17 the fossil fuel industry over the short, medium, 

18 and long term. 

19 (B) Quantitative and qualitative analysis 

20 and modeling of the economic impact of climate 

21 change on Federal employee retirement pro22 grams, including diversification of investments, 

23 risk tolerance, future economic and workforce 

24 trends, new opportunities, expected losses, and 

25 returns. 


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1 (C) The current state of, and outlook for, 

2 clean energy, including possible investment op3 portunities. 

4 (D) The experiences, including perform5 ance analyses, of other pension funds and inves6 tors that have undertaken concerted strategic 

7 efforts to divest from fossil fuel holdings in 

8 order to maximize the efficacy and stability of 

9 their assets while minimizing their climate-re10 lated risk exposure. 

11 (E) Strategic options to address climate12 related investment risks through further efforts 

13 to divest from fossil fuel holdings, including— 

14 (i) transitioning to a low-carbon or 

15 carbon-free benchmark index for all public 

16 equities; 

17 (ii) divesting from significant fossil 

18 fuel holdings that are not responsible fidu19 ciary investments for beneficiaries; and 

20 (iii) exploring the use of organizations 

21 to de-risk investments in carbon dependent 

22 funds. 

23 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Advisory Panel 

25 shall submit to the Board a report containing the 


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1 findings of the Advisory Panel, including the results 

2 of the examinations performed under paragraph (1). 

3 (e) CONSULTATION WITH FEMA.—The Advisory 

4 Panel shall, in preparing the report required under sub5 section (d)(2), consult with the Administrator of the Fed6 eral Emergency Management Agency on any matters with7 in the jurisdiction of that Agency. 

8 (f) REVIEW OF REPORT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Board, after reviewing 

10 the report submitted by the Advisory Panel under 

11 subsection (d)(2), determines that it would be finan12 cially profitable, and consistent with the fiduciary 

13 duties of the Board, to implement low-carbon invest14 ment strategies, the Board shall establish a plan to 

15 transition the investment practices of the Board ac16 cordingly. 

17 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Board shall 

18 submit to Congress, including to the Office of the 

19 Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representa20 tives, a report regarding the determination of the 

21 Board under paragraph (1), including if the Board 

22 is unable to determine that it would be financially 

23 profitable, and consistent with the fiduciary duties of 

24 the Board, to implement low-carbon investment 

25 strategies. 


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1 (g) TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding section 14 of 

2 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), the 

3 Advisory Panel shall terminate upon submitting the report 

4 required under subsection (d)(2). 

5 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated not more than 

7 $2,000,000 for the Advisory Panel to comply with the re8 quirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

9 U.S.C. App.), including by ensuring that the Advisory 

10 Panel will have— 

11 (1) adequate staff and quarters; and 

12 (2) funds available to meet the other necessary 

13 expenses of the Advisory Panel. 

14 SEC. 4. CLIMATE CHOICE STOCK INDEX FUND. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8438 of title 5, United 

16 States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4) 

19 through (10) as paragraphs (7) through (13), 

20 respectively; 

21 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 

22 and (3) as paragraphs (2), (4), and (5), respec23 tively; 

24 (C) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 

25 so redesignated, the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Climate Choice Stock Index 

2 Fund’ means the Climate Choice Stock Index Fund 

3 established under subsection (b)(1)(G);’’; 

4 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2), as so 

5 redesignated, the following: 

6 ‘‘(3) the term ‘entity’ means any sole propri7 etorship, organization, association, corporation, part8 nership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited li9 ability partnership, limited liability company, or 

10 other business association, including any wholly 

11 owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary, par12 ent-country national, or affiliate of the business as13 sociation, that exists for the purpose of making prof14 it;’’; and 

15 (E) by inserting after paragraph (5), as so 

16 redesignated, the following: 

17 ‘‘(6) the term ‘fossil fuel entity’ means any en18 tity— 

19 ‘‘(A) with proven carbon reserves; or 

20 ‘‘(B) that explores for, extracts, processes, 

21 refines, or transmits coal, oil, gas, oil shale, or 

22 tar sands;’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (b)— 

24 (A) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

4 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

5 and’’; and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(G) a Climate Choice Stock Index Fund 

9 as provided in paragraph (6).’’; and 

10 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(6)(A) The Board shall select an index which 

12 is a commonly recognized index comprised of com13 mon stock. 

14 ‘‘(B) The historical performance of the index 

15 selected under subparagraph (A) shall be comparable 

16 to that of the other investment funds and options 

17 available under this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(C) The Climate Choice Stock Index Fund 

19 shall be invested in a portfolio that is designed— 

20 ‘‘(i) to replicate the performance of the 

21 index selected under subparagraph (A); 

22 ‘‘(ii) such that, to the extent practicable, 

23 the percentage of the Climate Choice Stock 

24 Index Fund that is invested in each stock is the 

25 same as the percentage determined by dividing 


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1 the aggregate market value of all shares of that 

2 stock by the aggregate market value of all 

3 shares of all stocks included in the index se4 lected under subparagraph (A); and 

5 ‘‘(iii) to ensure that no investment in the 

6 portfolio is an investment with respect to a fos7 sil fuel entity.’’. 

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 subsection (a) shall take effect— 

10 (1) only if the Federal Retirement Thrift In11 vestment Board, in the report submitted under sec12 tion 3(f)(2), indicates that the Board is unable to 

13 determine that it would be financially profitable, and 

14 consistent with the fiduciary duties of the Board, to 

15 implement low-carbon investment strategies; and 

16 (2) on the date on which the Board submits the 

17 report described in paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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