Title: A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the Nation, States, cities, Tribal nations, and businesses, institutions of higher education, and other institutions in the United States should work toward achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution urges the United States to remain a party to the Paris Agreement and promote the reduction of global warming pollution.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 449 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 449

  Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Nation, States, cities, 
 Tribal nations, and businesses, institutions of higher education, and 
 other institutions in the United States should work toward achieving 
                   the goals of the Paris Agreement.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 10, 2019

 Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Carper, Mr. Reed, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Casey, 
    Ms. Hassan, Ms. Smith, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Booker, Mr. Durbin, Ms. 
   Klobuchar, Mr. Van Hollen, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Blumenthal, and Mr. 
 Whitehouse) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Nation, States, cities, 
 Tribal nations, and businesses, institutions of higher education, and 
 other institutions in the United States should work toward achieving 
                   the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Whereas all of the 197 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on 
        Climate Change have signed or acceded to the decision by the United 
        Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's 21st Conference of 
        Parties in Paris, France, adopted December 12, 2015 (referred to in this 
        preamble as the ``Paris Agreement'');
Whereas the ``Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 C'' by the 
        Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the 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 infrastructure and human life;

    (3) global warming at or above 2 degrees Celsius beyond pre-
industrialized levels will cause--

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

    G    (B) more than $500,000,000,000 in lost annual economic output in 
the United States by the year 2100;

    G    (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;

    G    (D) a loss of greater than 99 percent of all coral reefs on Earth;

    G    (E) more than 350,000,000 more people to be exposed globally to 
deadly heat stress by 2050; and

    G    (F) a risk of damage to public infrastructure and coastal real 
estate in the United States valued at an estimated $1,000,000,000,000;

    (4) global temperatures must be kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius above 
pre-industrialized levels to avoid the most severe impacts of a changing 
climate; and

    (5) limiting global warming will require the extensive use of clean, 
renewable energy sources, low-carbon-emitting vehicles, energy efficiency, 
reforestation, and accounting of carbon emissions equal to the social and 
environmental costs of those emissions;

Whereas, in 2018, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel consumption in the 
        United States rose 2.8 percent after the economy of the United States 
        grew by 18.4 percent between 2005 and 2016, while net greenhouse gas 
        emissions decreased by 12.1 percent during that period;
Whereas 37 States have set renewable energy goals;
Whereas 29 of the 37 States that have set renewable energy goals, 3 territories 
        of the United States, and the District of Columbia have adopted 
        renewable electricity standard requirements to demand clean energy 
        production;
Whereas 23 States and the District of Columbia have adopted greenhouse gas 
        emissions targets;
Whereas 27 States have adopted energy efficiency resource standards;
Whereas 10 States have adopted zero-emission vehicle targets;
Whereas 9 States have implemented the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to 
        construct a market-based system that sets a cap on emissions from the 
        electric sector that declines by--

    (1) 2.5 percent per year through 2020; and

    (2) 3 percent per year from 2021 through 2030;

Whereas the States of Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are making efforts 
        to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in 2020;
Whereas the State of California has a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas 
        emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030;
Whereas, in the United States, 90 cities, 11 counties, 2 States, and the 
        District of Columbia have adopted 100 percent clean and renewable energy 
        goals, and 217 companies have committed to 100 percent renewable energy;
Whereas more than 3,200,000 people in the United States work in clean energy in 
        all 50 States, including in industries relating to wind energy, solar 
        energy, energy efficiency, clean vehicles, and energy storage;
Whereas, in 2017, approximately 457,000 people in the United States were working 
        in the solar and wind industries, including roofers, electricians, and 
        steel workers;
Whereas the majority of clean energy jobs in the United States are blue collar 
        jobs that pay well;
Whereas the ``2018 U.S. Energy and Employment Report'' found that jobs in the 
        energy efficiency and renewable energy sector outnumber fossil fuel jobs 
        in the United States 3 to 1;
Whereas the establishment of the vehicle fuel economy emissions standards agreed 
        to in 2012 for vehicle model years 2022 through 2025--

    (1) is the single most significant action that has been taken to reduce 
global warming pollution;

    (2) has helped create more than 1,070,000 domestic jobs in the 
automobile industry of the United States;

    (3) will save consumers in the United States nearly $100,000,000,000 at 
the gas pump; and

    (4) will reduce the reliance of the United States on foreign oil by an 
estimated 2,500,000 barrels per day by 2030;

Whereas the 2019 report ``Accelerating America's Pledge'' found that the States, 
        cities, Tribal nations, businesses, and institutions of higher education 
        of the United States that support the objectives of the Paris 
        Agreement--

    (1) represent more than 70 percent of the United States economy and 
more than 50 percent of the emissions of the United States;

    (2) are already making significant contributions to emissions 
reductions; and

    (3) have the potential to reduce emissions even further;

Whereas the We Are Still In coalition--

    (1) has committed to uphold the Paris Agreement and the commitment of 
the United States to reduce emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 
2025; and

    (2) since the launch of the coalition in 2017, has tripled in size to 
nearly 4,000 cities, States, businesses, universities, healthcare 
organizations, faith groups, and cultural institutions in all 50 States as 
of 2019; and

Whereas the United States needs both a fully engaged Federal Government and 
        cities, States, and businesses working together to reduce emissions and 
        avoid the worst impacts of climate change: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the United 
States--
            (1) should remain a party to the Paris Agreement;
            (2) should support policies at the Federal, State, and 
        local level that promote the reduction of global warming 
        pollution and aim to meet the objectives of the Paris 
        Agreement; and
            (3) should support the efforts of businesses and investors 
        to take action on climate change.
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