IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 109 

Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New 

Deal. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ (for herself, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. SERRANO, 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. ESPAILLAT, 

Mr. LYNCH, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRENDAN F. 

BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. CLARKE of New 

York, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. 

PRESSLEY, Mr. WELCH, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. NADLER, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mr. POCAN, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. 

CONNOLLY, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. THOMPSON of California, 

Mr. LEVIN of California, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. HUFFMAN, 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. HIGGINS of New 

York, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. MENG, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. 

COHEN, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. 

MUCARSEL-POWELL, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. 

SABLAN, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. SEAN PATRICK

MALONEY of New York, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. LEVIN

of Michigan, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. 

LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. KEATING, Mr. 

DEFAZIO, Ms. ESHOO, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. KENNEDY, and 

Ms. WATERS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology, Education and Labor, Transportation and Infrastructure, Agriculture, Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Oversight 

and Reform, 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 


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•HRES 109 IH 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create 

a Green New Deal. 

Whereas the October 2018 report entitled ‘‘Special Report on 

Global Warming of 1.5 oC’’ by the Intergovernmental 

Panel on Climate Change and the November 2018 

Fourth National Climate Assessment report found that— 

(1) human activity is the dominant cause of observed climate change over the past century; 

(2) a changing climate is causing sea levels to rise 

and an increase in wildfires, severe storms, droughts, and 

other extreme weather events that threaten human life, 

healthy communities, and critical infrastructure; 

(3) global warming at or above 2 degrees Celsius beyond preindustrialized levels will cause— 

(A) mass migration from the regions most affected by climate change; 

(B) more than $500,000,000,000 in lost annual 

economic output in the United States by the year 

2100; 

(C) wildfires that, by 2050, will annually burn 

at least twice as much forest area in the western 

United States than was typically burned by wildfires 

in the years preceding 2019; 

(D) a loss of more than 99 percent of all coral 

reefs on Earth; 

(E) more than 350,000,000 more people to be 

exposed globally to deadly heat stress by 2050; and 

(F) a risk of damage to $1,000,000,000,000 of 

public infrastructure and coastal real estate in the 

United States; and 


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•HRES 109 IH 

(4) global temperatures must be kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrialized levels to avoid the 

most severe impacts of a changing climate, which will require— 

(A) global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from human sources of 40 to 60 percent from 

2010 levels by 2030; and 

(B) net-zero global emissions by 2050; 

Whereas, because the United States has historically been responsible for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse 

gas emissions, having emitted 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions through 2014, and has a high technological capacity, the United States must take a leading 

role in reducing emissions through economic transformation; 

Whereas the United States is currently experiencing several 

related crises, with— 

(1) life expectancy declining while basic needs, such 

as clean air, clean water, healthy food, and adequate 

health care, housing, transportation, and education, are 

inaccessible to a significant portion of the United States 

population; 

(2) a 4-decade trend of wage stagnation, 

deindustrialization, and antilabor policies that has led 

to— 

(A) hourly wages overall stagnating since the 

1970s despite increased worker productivity; 

(B) the third-worst level of socioeconomic mobility in the developed world before the Great Recession; 

(C) the erosion of the earning and bargaining 

power of workers in the United States; and 


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•HRES 109 IH 

(D) inadequate resources for public sector 

workers to confront the challenges of climate change 

at local, State, and Federal levels; and 

(3) the greatest income inequality since the 1920s, 

with— 

(A) the top 1 percent of earners accruing 91 

percent of gains in the first few years of economic 

recovery after the Great Recession; 

(B) a large racial wealth divide amounting to a 

difference of 20 times more wealth between the average white family and the average black family; and 

(C) a gender earnings gap that results in 

women earning approximately 80 percent as much 

as men, at the median; 

Whereas climate change, pollution, and environmental destruction have exacerbated systemic racial, regional, social, environmental, and economic injustices (referred to 

in this preamble as ‘‘systemic injustices’’) by disproportionately affecting indigenous peoples, communities of 

color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people 

with disabilities, and youth (referred to in this preamble 

as ‘‘frontline and vulnerable communities’’); 

Whereas, climate change constitutes a direct threat to the national security of the United States— 

(1) by impacting the economic, environmental, and 

social stability of countries and communities around the 

world; and 

(2) by acting as a threat multiplier; 

Whereas the Federal Government-led mobilizations during 

World War II and the New Deal created the greatest 


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•HRES 109 IH 

middle class that the United States has ever seen, but 

many members of frontline and vulnerable communities 

were excluded from many of the economic and societal 

benefits of those mobilizations; and 

Whereas the House of Representatives recognizes that a new 

national, social, industrial, and economic mobilization on 

a scale not seen since World War II and the New Deal 

era is a historic opportunity— 

(1) to create millions of good, high-wage jobs in the 

United States; 

(2) to provide unprecedented levels of prosperity and 

economic security for all people of the United States; and 

(3) to counteract systemic injustices: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to 

4 create a Green New Deal— 

5 (A) to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas 

6 emissions through a fair and just transition for 

7 all communities and workers; 

8 (B) to create millions of good, high-wage 

9 jobs and ensure prosperity and economic secu10 rity for all people of the United States; 

11 (C) to invest in the infrastructure and in12 dustry of the United States to sustainably meet 

13 the challenges of the 21st century; 


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•HRES 109 IH 

1 (D) to secure for all people of the United 

2 States for generations to come— 

3 (i) clean air and water; 

4 (ii) climate and community resiliency; 

5 (iii) healthy food; 

6 (iv) access to nature; and 

7 (v) a sustainable environment; and 

8 (E) to promote justice and equity by stop9 ping current, preventing future, and repairing 

10 historic oppression of indigenous peoples, com11 munities of color, migrant communities, 

12 deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural 

13 communities, the poor, low-income workers, 

14 women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with 

15 disabilities, and youth (referred to in this reso16 lution as ‘‘frontline and vulnerable commu17 nities’’); 

18 (2) the goals described in subparagraphs (A) 

19 through (E) of paragraph (1) (referred to in this 

20 resolution as the ‘‘Green New Deal goals’’) should 

21 be accomplished through a 10-year national mobili22 zation (referred to in this resolution as the ‘‘Green 

23 New Deal mobilization’’) that will require the fol24 lowing goals and projects— 


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•HRES 109 IH 

1 (A) building resiliency against climate 

2 change-related disasters, such as extreme 

3 weather, including by leveraging funding and 

4 providing investments for community-defined 

5 projects and strategies; 

6 (B) repairing and upgrading the infra7 structure in the United States, including— 

8 (i) by eliminating pollution and green9 house gas emissions as much as techno10 logically feasible; 

11 (ii) by guaranteeing universal access 

12 to clean water; 

13 (iii) by reducing the risks posed by cli14 mate impacts; and 

15 (iv) by ensuring that any infrastruc16 ture bill considered by Congress addresses 

17 climate change; 

18 (C) meeting 100 percent of the power de19 mand in the United States through clean, re20 newable, and zero-emission energy sources, in21 cluding— 

22 (i) by dramatically expanding and up23 grading renewable power sources; and 

24 (ii) by deploying new capacity; 


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•HRES 109 IH 

1 (D) building or upgrading to energy-effi2 cient, distributed, and ‘‘smart’’ power grids, 

3 and ensuring affordable access to electricity; 

4 (E) upgrading all existing buildings in the 

5 United States and building new buildings to 

6 achieve maximum energy efficiency, water effi7 ciency, safety, affordability, comfort, and dura8 bility, including through electrification; 

9 (F) spurring massive growth in clean man10 ufacturing in the United States and removing 

11 pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from 

12 manufacturing and industry as much as is tech13 nologically feasible, including by expanding re14 newable energy manufacturing and investing in 

15 existing manufacturing and industry; 

16 (G) working collaboratively with farmers 

17 and ranchers in the United States to remove 

18 pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from 

19 the agricultural sector as much as is techno20 logically feasible, including— 

21 (i) by supporting family farming; 

22 (ii) by investing in sustainable farm23 ing and land use practices that increase 

24 soil health; and 


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•HRES 109 IH 

1 (iii) by building a more sustainable 

2 food system that ensures universal access 

3 to healthy food; 

4 (H) overhauling transportation systems in 

5 the United States to remove pollution and 

6 greenhouse gas emissions from the transpor7 tation sector as much as is technologically fea8 sible, including through investment in— 

9 (i) zero-emission vehicle infrastructure 

10 and manufacturing; 

11 (ii) clean, affordable, and accessible 

12 public transit; and 

13 (iii) high-speed rail; 

14 (I) mitigating and managing the long-term 

15 adverse health, economic, and other effects of 

16 pollution and climate change, including by pro17 viding funding for community-defined projects 

18 and strategies; 

19 (J) removing greenhouse gases from the 

20 atmosphere and reducing pollution by restoring 

21 natural ecosystems through proven low-tech so22 lutions that increase soil carbon storage, such 

23 as land preservation and afforestation; 

24 (K) restoring and protecting threatened, 

25 endangered, and fragile ecosystems through loVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR109.IH HR109

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•HRES 109 IH 

1 cally appropriate and science-based projects 

2 that enhance biodiversity and support climate 

3 resiliency; 

4 (L) cleaning up existing hazardous waste 

5 and abandoned sites, ensuring economic devel6 opment and sustainability on those sites; 

7 (M) identifying other emission and pollu8 tion sources and creating solutions to remove 

9 them; and 

10 (N) promoting the international exchange 

11 of technology, expertise, products, funding, and 

12 services, with the aim of making the United 

13 States the international leader on climate ac14 tion, and to help other countries achieve a 

15 Green New Deal; 

16 (3) a Green New Deal must be developed 

17 through transparent and inclusive consultation, col18 laboration, and partnership with frontline and vul19 nerable communities, labor unions, worker coopera20 tives, civil society groups, academia, and businesses; 

21 and 

22 (4) to achieve the Green New Deal goals and 

23 mobilization, a Green New Deal will require the fol24 lowing goals and projects— 


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•HRES 109 IH 

1 (A) providing and leveraging, in a way that 

2 ensures that the public receives appropriate 

3 ownership stakes and returns on investment, 

4 adequate capital (including through community 

5 grants, public banks, and other public financ6 ing), technical expertise, supporting policies, 

7 and other forms of assistance to communities, 

8 organizations, Federal, State, and local govern9 ment agencies, and businesses working on the 

10 Green New Deal mobilization; 

11 (B) ensuring that the Federal Government 

12 takes into account the complete environmental 

13 and social costs and impacts of emissions 

14 through— 

15 (i) existing laws; 

16 (ii) new policies and programs; and 

17 (iii) ensuring that frontline and vul18 nerable communities shall not be adversely 

19 affected; 

20 (C) providing resources, training, and 

21 high-quality education, including higher edu22 cation, to all people of the United States, with 

23 a focus on frontline and vulnerable commu24 nities, so that all people of the United States 


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•HRES 109 IH 

1 may be full and equal participants in the Green 

2 New Deal mobilization; 

3 (D) making public investments in the re4 search and development of new clean and re5 newable energy technologies and industries; 

6 (E) directing investments to spur economic 

7 development, deepen and diversify industry and 

8 business in local and regional economies, and 

9 build wealth and community ownership, while 

10 prioritizing high-quality job creation and eco11 nomic, social, and environmental benefits in 

12 frontline and vulnerable communities, and 

13 deindustrialized communities, that may other14 wise struggle with the transition away from 

15 greenhouse gas intensive industries; 

16 (F) ensuring the use of democratic and 

17 participatory processes that are inclusive of and 

18 led by frontline and vulnerable communities and 

19 workers to plan, implement, and administer the 

20 Green New Deal mobilization at the local level; 

21 (G) ensuring that the Green New Deal mo22 bilization creates high-quality union jobs that 

23 pay prevailing wages, hires local workers, offers 

24 training and advancement opportunities, and 


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•HRES 109 IH 

1 guarantees wage and benefit parity for workers 

2 affected by the transition; 

3 (H) guaranteeing a job with a family-sus4 taining wage, adequate family and medical 

5 leave, paid vacations, and retirement security to 

6 all people of the United States; 

7 (I) strengthening and protecting the right 

8 of all workers to organize, unionize, and collec9 tively bargain free of coercion, intimidation, and 

10 harassment; 

11 (J) strengthening and enforcing labor, 

12 workplace health and safety, antidiscrimination, 

13 and wage and hour standards across all employ14 ers, industries, and sectors; 

15 (K) enacting and enforcing trade rules, 

16 procurement standards, and border adjustments 

17 with strong labor and environmental protec18 tions— 

19 (i) to stop the transfer of jobs and 

20 pollution overseas; and 

21 (ii) to grow domestic manufacturing 

22 in the United States; 

23 (L) ensuring that public lands, waters, and 

24 oceans are protected and that eminent domain 

25 is not abused; 


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•HRES 109 IH 

1 (M) obtaining the free, prior, and informed 

2 consent of indigenous peoples for all decisions 

3 that affect indigenous peoples and their tradi4 tional territories, honoring all treaties and 

5 agreements with indigenous peoples, and pro6 tecting and enforcing the sovereignty and land 

7 rights of indigenous peoples; 

8 (N) ensuring a commercial environment 

9 where every businessperson is free from unfair 

10 competition and domination by domestic or 

11 international monopolies; and 

12 (O) providing all people of the United 

13 States with— 

14 (i) high-quality health care; 

15 (ii) affordable, safe, and adequate 

16 housing; 

17 (iii) economic security; and 

18 (iv) clean water, clean air, healthy and 

19 affordable food, and access to nature. 

Æ 


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