IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 31 
Recognizing that the climate crisis is disproportionately affecting the health, 
economic opportunity, and fundamental rights of children, recognizing 
the importance of renewed leadership by the United States in addressing 
the climate crisis, and recognizing the need of the United States to 
develop a national, comprehensive, and science-based climate recovery 
plan to phase out fossil fuel emissions, protect and enhance natural 
sequestration, and put the United States on a path towards stabilizing 
the climate system. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 21, 2021 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. RUSH, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. 
NORTON, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. OMAR, 
Ms. SCANLON, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. POCAN, Ms. 
JACOBS of California, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. NEWMAN, Mr. JONES, Mr. 
HUFFMAN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. COHEN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mrs. CAROLYN 
B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. 
BONAMICI, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. CASTOR of 
Florida, Mr. SARBANES, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. 
BROWNLEY, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. LEE of Cali-
fornia, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. MENG, 
Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. BASS, and 
Mr. NADLER) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Recognizing that the climate crisis is disproportionately af-
fecting the health, economic opportunity, and funda-
mental rights of children, recognizing the importance 
of renewed leadership by the United States in addressing 
the climate crisis, and recognizing the need of the United 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:57 Apr 22, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\HC31.IH
HC31
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HCON 31 IH 
States to develop a national, comprehensive, and science- 
based climate recovery plan to phase out fossil fuel emis-
sions, protect and enhance natural sequestration, and 
put the United States on a path towards stabilizing 
the climate system. 
Whereas a stable climate system at the founding of this Na-
tion allowed human life and human civilization to flour-
ish; 
Whereas this Nation was founded on the deeply rooted prin-
ciple 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 is pre-
servative of other fundamental rights, including, but not 
limited to, the rights to life, liberty, property, personal 
security, family autonomy, bodily integrity, and the abil-
ity to learn, practice, and transmit cultural and religious 
traditions; 
Whereas the Federal Government sets our Nation’s energy 
policy, which has resulted in a national energy system in 
which approximately 80 percent of our Nation’s energy 
comes from fossil fuels; 
Whereas the national fossil fuel-based energy system has led 
to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the United 
States constituting more than one-quarter of cumulative 
global CO2 emissions; 
Whereas the United States is the world’s largest producer of 
oil and gas, in substantial part through the Federal Gov-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:57 Apr 22, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC31.IH
HC31
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HCON 31 IH 
ernment’s opening up of Federal public lands and waters 
for fossil fuel extraction and through actively supporting 
fossil fuel energy; 
Whereas there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that 
human-caused climate change is occurring and that the 
present rate of global heating and ocean acidification is 
a result of the buildup of atmospheric greenhouse gas 
emissions, primarily CO2 emissions, largely from the 
combustion of fossil fuels; 
Whereas current atmospheric CO2 levels of over 400 parts 
per million (ppm) have caused a dangerous planetary en-
ergy imbalance, equivalent to the amount of energy of ex-
ploding more than 400,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs per 
day, 365 days per year, across our planet; 
Whereas current climate science and real-world observations 
of the energy imbalance demonstrate that the approxi-
mately one degree (1°) Celsius of warming that has al-
ready occurred as a result of human-caused climate 
change is already dangerous and negatively affecting all 
aspects of our society and our economy; 
Whereas the last time atmospheric concentrations of CO2 
were over 400 ppm, the seas were 70 to 90 feet higher, 
Greenland had no ice, and coral reefs suffered a major 
extinction, and similar conditions will result if our Nation 
does not drastically reduce CO2 emissions and naturally 
sequester excess concentrations of atmospheric CO2 this 
century; 
Whereas climate change is a threat to national security, as 
it contributes to and exacerbates global instability and 
conflict; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:57 Apr 22, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC31.IH
HC31
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HCON 31 IH 
Whereas the generation of today’s children was born into a 
climate system made hazardous 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 per unit body weight, 
unique behavior patterns, dependence on caregivers, and 
longevity on the planet; 
Whereas human-caused climate change is a public health 
emergency that is adversely impacting the physical and 
mental health of children through, among other impacts, 
extreme weather events, rising temperatures and in-
creased heat exposure, decreased air quality, altered in-
fectious disease patterns, and 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 sub-
sequent centuries, resulting in increased erosion and the 
loss of land, causing the loss of communities, homes, in-
frastructure, agriculture, and coastal ecosystems for chil-
dren affected, until such time as levels of CO2 in the at-
mosphere are dramatically reduced and steps are taken 
to cool the upper portion of the ocean; 
Whereas infant mortality increases 25 percent on extremely 
hot days, with the first 7 days of life representing a pe-
riod of critical vulnerability; 
Whereas heat illness is a leading cause of death and illness 
in high school athletes, with nearly 10,000 episodes oc-
curring annually; 
Whereas 8.4 percent of children suffer from allergic rhinitis 
and the ragweed pollen season in North America has 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:57 Apr 22, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC31.IH
HC31
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HCON 31 IH 
grown 13 to 27 days longer since 1995 due to higher 
temperatures and greater CO2 levels; 
Whereas children are especially susceptible to air pollution 
given their developing lungs, higher ventilation rate, and 
higher levels of physical activity; 
Whereas children exposed to smoke from wildfires, which 
have increased in frequency and severity due to rising 
temperatures and droughts, suffer substantial eye symp-
toms, as well as upper and lower respiratory symptoms, 
which lead to increased rates of asthma-related hos-
pitalizations and emergency room visits; 
Whereas long-term exposure to fine particulate matter, in-
cluding from sources of air pollution and smoke from 
wildfires, is associated with higher COVID–19 mortality 
rates; 
Whereas extreme weather events can negatively impact chil-
dren’s mental health due to family loss or separation, 
school interruption, scarcities of food, water, and shelter, 
and public service outages; 
Whereas without immediate steps to address human-caused 
climate change, the health impacts on children will in-
crease in severity and in terms of the number of children 
impacted and will cost the United States billions of dol-
lars per year by the end of the century; 
Whereas children will largely shoulder the costs of human- 
caused climate change and further increases in global 
temperature will saddle children with an enormous, per-
haps incalculable, cost burden, undermining their eco-
nomic security and the economic security of the United 
States; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:57 Apr 22, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC31.IH
HC31
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HCON 31 IH 
Whereas children are deserving of special consideration and 
protection with respect to human-caused climate change; 
Whereas children on the frontlines of human-caused climate 
change across our Nation 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 ensure environmental 
and climate justice for their generation and future gen-
erations, 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, have long suffered from systemic envi-
ronmental racism and social and economic injustices, are 
disproportionately burdened by adverse health or environ-
mental effects, and are subjected to disproportionate en-
ergy burdens; 
Whereas members and children from frontline and environ-
mental justice communities, who are more likely to reside 
in areas with greater exposure to air pollution, are dis-
proportionately impacted by the COVID–19 pandemic; 
Whereas global atmospheric CO2 concentrations must be re-
duced to below 350 ppm by the end of the century, with 
further reductions thereafter, in order to restore the 
planet’s energy balance, stabilize our 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 our Nation can be sig-
nificantly mitigated if the United States acts promptly to 
reduce its emissions from fossil fuels; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:57 Apr 22, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC31.IH
HC31
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HCON 31 IH 
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 Nation’s energy with noncarbon-emit-
ting 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 in the energy sector; and 
Whereas multiple executive departments and agencies with 
authority delegated by Congress can exercise such au-
thority to prevent and respond to climate change, includ-
ing, but not limited to, the Department of Energy, De-
partment of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, En-
vironmental Protection Agency, Department of Com-
merce, and Department of State: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) renewed United States leadership is needed 
immediately to act to address the human-caused cli-
mate crisis that is disproportionately affecting the 
health, economic opportunity, and fundamental 
rights of our Nation’s children; and 
(2) there is an urgent human-caused climate 
crisis that— 
(A) has inspired children across our Na-
tion to organize and demand immediate govern-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:57 Apr 22, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HC31.IH
HC31
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HCON 31 IH 
ment action to protect their fundamental rights 
from the perils of climate change; and 
(B) demands a national, comprehensive, 
science-based, and just climate recovery plan 
prepared by the departments and agencies of 
the executive branch with delegated authority 
over energy and climate policy, that puts the 
United States on a trajectory consistent with 
reducing global atmospheric CO2 to below 350 
parts per million by the year 2100 to uphold 
children’s fundamental rights. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:57 Apr 22, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HC31.IH
HC31
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS