I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2958 
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the climate. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 20, 2017 
Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. LEE, Mr. 
QUIGLEY, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. POLIS, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. 
ELLISON, and Mrs. NAPOLITANO) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the climate. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Climate Solutions Act 
of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The United States has the objective of sta-
bilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmos-
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phere at a level that would prevent ‘‘dangerous an-
thropogenic interference’’ with the climate system as 
demonstrated by becoming a party to the 1992 
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 
Change, pledging to China to reduce greenhouse gas 
emissions to 28 percent of their 2005 levels by 2025, 
and regulating greenhouse gas emissions from sta-
tionary sources, mobile sources, and electrical power 
suppliers. 
(2) To achieve this objective, the increase in 
global mean surface temperature should not exceed 
2°C (3.6°F) above preindustrial temperature, much 
of which is already projected to occur by the Inter-
governmental Panel on Climate Change. 
(3) The risks associated with a temperature in-
crease above 2°C (3.6°F) are grave, including the 
disintegration of the Greenland ice sheet, which, if 
it were to melt completely, would raise global aver-
age sea level by approximately 23 feet, devastating 
many of the world’s coastal areas and population 
centers. 
(4) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
Change projects that temperatures will rise between 
1.8°C to 4.0°C (3.2°F to 7.2°F) by the end of the 
century, under a range of expected emissions trends, 
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but if there are common goals to limit greenhouse 
gas emissions, the temperature increase can be lim-
ited to 2°C (3.6°F) or less. 
(5) Serious global warming impacts have al-
ready been observed in the United States and world-
wide, including— 
(A) increases in heat waves and other ex-
treme weather events; 
(B) rise in sea level, retreat of glaciers and 
polar ice; 
(C) decline in mountain snowpack, in-
creased drought (including droughts in the 
West and South United States) resulting in 
damage to our economy and property; 
(D) extreme weather conditions resulting 
in wildfires, stronger hurricanes and polar vor-
tex occurrences resulting in further damage to 
property and our economy; 
(E) damage to our environment such as 
ocean acidification, extensive coral bleaching, 
migrations, and shifts in the yearly cycles of 
plants and animals; and 
(F) effects on human population including 
population displacement and adverse health ef-
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fects such as the spread of infectious diseases 
and climate-related conditions such as asthma. 
(6) Scientists project that under a midrange es-
timate of global warming, by 2050, roughly 25 per-
cent of animal and plant species will be committed 
to extinction. 
(7) Decisive action is needed to minimize the 
many dangers posed by global warming. 
(8) The timing of such action is critical, given 
that greenhouse gases can persist in the atmosphere 
for more than a century. 
(9) The International Energy Agency has 
warned in its most recent World Energy Outlook re-
port that, unless there is a serious commitment to 
investing in zero carbon renewable energy resources, 
much of the amount of projected limits necessary to 
avoid greenhouse-gas-emission-caused dangerous an-
thropogenic interference with the climate system will 
be locked in and exceeded. 
(10) 
PricewaterhouseCoopers 
Low 
Carbon 
Economy Index Report estimates that carbon-based 
fuel use needs to be reduced 6.5 percent per year 
through the year 2100, nearly six times the current 
rate, to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference 
with the climate system. 
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(11) With only 5 percent of the world popu-
lation, the United States emits approximately 20 
percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions 
and must be a leader in addressing global warming. 
(12) The State of California, the 6th largest 
economy in the world, has shown that renewable en-
ergy standards and greenhouse gas emissions regula-
tion can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while fos-
tering significant economic growth. 
(13) Existing energy efficiency and clean, re-
newable energy technologies can reduce global warm-
ing pollution, while saving consumers money, reduc-
ing our dependence on oil, enhancing national secu-
rity, cleaning the air, and protecting pristine places 
from drilling and mining. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the 
Congress that the United States should participate in ne-
gotiations under the 1992 United Nations Framework 
Convention on Climate Change and honor its commit-
ments therefrom with the objective of securing and con-
tinuing United States participation in agreements, includ-
ing the Paris Agreement that the United States accepted 
on September 3, 2016, and took effect on November 4, 
2016, that— 
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