(3) GEOLOGICAL
SEQUESTRATION.—The term 
‘‘geological sequestration’’ means the capture and 
long-term storage in a geological formation of a 
greenhouse gas from an energy producing facility, 
which prevents the release of greenhouse gases into 
the atmosphere. 
(4) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘‘greenhouse 
gas’’ means— 
(A) carbon dioxide; 
(B) methane; 
(C) nitrous oxide; 
(D) hydrofluorocarbons; 
(E) perfluorocarbons; or 
(F) sulfur hexafluoride. 
Subtitle A—United States Policy on 
Global Climate Change 
SEC. 2101. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) There is a global scientific consensus, as es-
tablished by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
Change (IPCC) and confirmed by the National 
Academy of Sciences, that the continued build-up of 
anthropogenic greenhouse gases in the atmosphere 
has been, and is now warming the earth and threat-
ens the stability of the global climate. By the esti-
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mate of the IPCC, unmitigated global greenhouse 
gas emissions could drive up global temperatures by 
as much as 7 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. 
(2) Climate change is already having significant 
impacts in certain regions of the world and on many 
ecosystems, with poor populations being most vul-
nerable. 
(3) Climate change is a global problem that can 
only be managed by a coordinated global response 
that reduces global emissions of greenhouse gases to 
a level that stabilizes their concentration in the 
Earth’s atmosphere. 
(4) The United Nations Framework Convention 
on Climate Change (hereinafter in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Convention’’) establishes a viable 
foundation to construct a global regime to combat 
global warming and manage its impacts. 
(5) The United States, along with 189 other 
countries, is a party to the Convention, agreed to in 
New York on May 9, 1992, and entered into force 
in 1994. The Convention’s stated objective is ‘‘to 
achieve stabilization of greenhouse gas concentra-
tions in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent 
dangerous anthropogenic interference with the cli-
mate system’’. 
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(6) The Kyoto Protocol to the Convention was 
adopted by the third Convention Conference of the 
Parties (COP–3) in December 1997, in Kyoto, 
Japan, and stipulated legally binding reductions in 
greenhouse gas emissions at an average of 5.2 per-
cent below 1990 levels for industrialized countries, 
but it did not specify policies for its implementation. 
The Kyoto Protocol also did not stipulate binding re-
ductions in greenhouse gas emissions for rapidly in-
dustrializing countries such as China, India, and 
Brazil. 
(7) Before negotiations were completed on the 
mechanisms for implementing Kyoto Protocol com-
mitments on greenhouse gas emissions, George W. 
Bush took office as President of the United States, 
and in March 2001, announced opposition to contin-
ued negotiations over implementation of the Pro-
tocol, stating that the Protocol was ‘‘fatally flawed’’ 
from the Administration’s point of view. 
(8) President Bush unveiled an ‘‘alternative’’ 
strategy to the Kyoto Protocol for halting global 
warming on February 14, 2002. The President’s 
plan did not contain any international component to 
amend or supplant the Kyoto Protocol or any kind 
of blueprint for committing major developing econo-
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mies such as China, India, and Brazil to reduce fu-
ture greenhouse gas emissions. The President’s plan 
set a voluntary ‘‘greenhouse gas intensity’’ target for 
the United States that specified an 18 percent re-
duction in ‘‘emissions intensity’’ by 2012. This re-
duction would allow actual emissions to increase by 
at least 12 percent over the same period. 
(9) On February 16, 2005, after Russia’s ratifi-
cation, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force. With 
entry into force, the emissions targets of the Pro-
tocol became legally binding commitments for those 
industrialized countries that ratified the Protocol. 
Because the United States and Australia did not 
ratify the Protocol, and because developing countries 
are not subject to its limits, the Protocol currently 
restricts the emissions of countries accounting for 
only 32 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. 
(10) The Kyoto Protocol required that parties 
to the Protocol begin negotiating in 2005 toward a 
second round of commitments to begin after the ex-
piration of the first emissions budget period in 2012. 
The eleventh Convention Conference of the Parties 
(COP–11) in November and December 2005 in 
Montreal, Canada launched the negotiations on the 
second round of commitments by parties to the Pro-
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