[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 56 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 56
Recognizing that the climate crisis disproportionately affects the
health, economic opportunity, and fundamental rights of children,
expressing the sense of Congress that leadership by the United States
is still urgently needed to address the climate crisis, and
acknowledging the need of the United States to develop a national,
comprehensive, science-based, and just climate recovery plan to phase
out fossil fuel emissions, protect and enhance natural carbon
sequestration, and put the United States on a path toward stabilizing
the climate system.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 13, 2023
Ms. Schakowsky (for herself, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Lee of California, Ms.
Barragan, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Omar,
Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Trone, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Cohen, Mr.
Lynch, Ms. Norton, Ms. Chu, Ms. Bush, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Johnson of
Georgia, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Jackson
Lee, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mrs. Trahan,
Ms. McCollum, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms.
Clarke of New York, Ms. Titus, Ms. Stansbury, Ms. Wilson of Florida,
Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr.
McGovern, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Frost, Ms. Ross, Ms.
Jacobs, Mr. Morelle, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Velazquez, Mrs.
Watson Coleman, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Robert Garcia of California, Mr.
Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Salinas, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Soto,
Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Mr. Connolly, Mr.
Vargas, Ms. Meng, Mr. Thanedar, Ms. DeLauro, and Ms. Pingree) submitted
the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Recognizing that the climate crisis disproportionately affects the
health, economic opportunity, and fundamental rights of children,
expressing the sense of Congress that leadership by the United States
is still urgently needed to address the climate crisis, and
acknowledging the need of the United States to develop a national,
comprehensive, science-based, and just climate recovery plan to phase
out fossil fuel emissions, protect and enhance natural carbon
sequestration, and put the United States on a path toward stabilizing
the climate system.
Whereas a stable climate system at the founding of the United States allowed
human life and human civilization to flourish;
Whereas the United States was founded on the deeply rooted principle 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 preserves other fundamental rights,
including the rights to life, liberty, property, personal security,
family autonomy, bodily integrity, and the ability to learn, practice,
and transmit cultural and religious traditions;
Whereas fossil fuel use for energy in the United States has increased since the
Industrial Revolution and accelerated such that the fossil fuel-based
energy system in the United States has led to carbon dioxide emissions
from the United States constituting more than \1/4\ of cumulative global
carbon dioxide emissions;
Whereas the Federal Government sets the energy policy of the United States,
which has resulted in an energy system in the United States in which
approximately 80 percent of the energy produced in the United States
comes from fossil fuels;
Whereas the United States is the world's largest producer of oil and gas, in
substantial part through the Federal Government's leasing of Federal
public lands and waters for fossil fuel extraction and through actively
promoting, permitting, and subsidizing fossil fuel energy development
and consumption;
Whereas there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that human-caused climate
change is occurring, that the scale of recent changes across the climate
system is unprecedented in a multimillennial context, and that the
present accelerated rate of global heating, glacier and ice sheet
melting, sea level rise, and ocean acidification is a result of the
buildup of atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions, primarily consisting of
carbon dioxide emissions, largely from the combustion of fossil fuels;
Whereas the accumulation of current atmospheric CO<INF>2</INF> levels to an
annual average of 419 parts per million (ppm) in 2022 has caused a
dangerous planetary energy imbalance, equivalent to the amount of energy
of exploding more than 400,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs per day, 365 days
per year, across the planet;
Whereas current climate science and real-world observations of the energy
imbalance demonstrate that the approximately 1 degree Celsius of warming
that has already occurred as a result of human-caused climate change is
already dangerous and negatively affecting all aspects of society and
the economy of the United States;
Whereas the last time atmospheric concentration of CO<INF>2</INF> was around 400
ppm, the seas were up to 70 to 90 feet higher, the Greenland and West
Antarctic ice sheets largely collapsed, and coral reefs suffered a major
extinction;
Whereas similar conditions will result if the United States does not drastically
reduce CO<INF>2</INF> emissions in addition to naturally sequestering
and drawing down excess concentrations of CO<INF>2</INF> already in the
atmosphere from cumulative historic emissions this century;
Whereas the longer the length of time atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations
remain at dangerous levels, the risk of locking in dangerous warming-
driven feedback loops and triggering accelerated heating and
irreversible catastrophic impacts increases;
Whereas climate change is a threat to national security, as it contributes to
and exacerbates global instability and conflict;
Whereas today's children were born into a climate system that is harmful 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
relative to their body weight, unique behavior patterns, dependence on
caregivers, and longevity on the planet;
Whereas human-caused climate change is a public health emergency that adversely
and disproportionately impacts the physical health of children through,
among other impacts--
(1) increases in extreme weather events, including increases in heavy
rainfall, flooding, and hurricanes, that cause disruptive evacuations,
school closures, and displacement;
(2) increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme heat waves and
rising temperatures that cause increased heat exposure and illness, which
is a leading cause of death and illness in high school athletes, with
nearly 10,000 episodes of heat illness occurring annually;
(3) increases in infant mortality by 25 percent on extremely hot days,
with the first 7 days of life representing a period of critical
vulnerability;
(4) increases in drier conditions and drought, leading to an earlier
wildfire season peak, and increased wildfire season length, wildfire
frequency, and extent of burned area, exposing children to wildfire smoke
that causes substantial eye symptoms, debilitating headaches and nausea,
and upper and lower respiratory symptoms that lead to increased rates of
asthma-related hospitalizations and emergency room visits;
(5) decreased air quality as children are especially susceptible to air
pollution given their developing lungs, higher ventilation rate, and higher
levels of physical activity;
(6) increases in pollen concentration and a longer pollen season that
contributes to allergic rhinitis, where 8.4 percent of children suffer from
allergic rhinitis;
(7) altered infectious disease patterns; and
(8) increases in 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 subsequent centuries, resulting in increased erosion
and the loss of land, causing the loss of communities, homes,
infrastructure, agriculture, and coastal ecosystems for affected
children, until such time as levels of CO<INF>2</INF> in the atmosphere
are dramatically reduced, and steps are taken to cool the upper portion
of the ocean;
Whereas extreme weather events can negatively impact children's mental health
due to--
(1) family loss or separation;
(2) personal injury or injury of loved ones;
(3) damage or loss to personal property and pets;
(4) school interruption;
(5) scarcities of food, water, and medicine;
(6) public service outages;
(7) displacement, along with the loss of a sense of home and a safe
space;
(8) loss of nature and cultural activities; and
(9) feelings of uncertainty about the future and a belief that their
government is not protecting them from climate change, all of which result
in anxiety, trauma, shock, post-traumatic stress disorder, and chronic
impacts;
Whereas, without immediate steps to address human-caused climate change, the
health impacts on children will increase in severity and in terms of the
number of children impacted and exposed to dangerous conditions, and
will cost the United States billions of dollars per year by the end of
the century, with costs growing more expensive as the accumulation of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases, and as chronic
psychological consequences of climate-related stress increase;
Whereas children will largely shoulder the costs of human-caused climate change,
and further increases in the global temperature will saddle children
with an enormous, perhaps incalculable, cost burden, undermining the
economic security of children and the United States;
Whereas, given their vulnerabilities, children are deserving of special
consideration and protection with respect to human-caused climate
change;
Whereas children are a politically powerless minority without economic or
political power to influence climate and energy policy, as they are
denied the right to vote until they become 18 years old, and their
interests are subjugated to the interests of adults;
Whereas children on the front lines of human-caused climate change across the
United States 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 to account for
intergenerational inequities to ensure environmental and climate justice
for their generation and future generations, 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--
(1) have long suffered from systemic environmental racism and social
and economic injustices;
(2) are more likely to reside in areas with greater exposure to air
pollution, experience long-term exposure, and be disproportionately
burdened by adverse health or environmental effects, including public
health pandemics;
(3) are subjected to disproportionate energy burdens; and
(4) have less access to resources needed to cope with climate-related
impacts;
Whereas global atmospheric CO<INF>2</INF> concentrations must be reduced to
below 350 ppm by the end of the century, with further reductions
thereafter, in order to restore the planet's energy balance, stabilize
the 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 the United States can be significantly mitigated if the
United States acts promptly to reduce its emissions from fossil fuels;
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 CO<INF>2</INF> to 350 ppm by 2100;
Whereas producing the energy in the United States with noncarbon-emitting
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 across multiple sectors
and the supply chain, and result in many co-benefits, including public
health and quality-of-life improvements, the prevention of premature
death, infrastructural stability, and biodiversity protection; and
Whereas multiple executive departments and agencies with authority delegated by
Congress can exercise such authority to prevent and respond to climate
change, including the Executive Office of the President, the Council on
Environmental Quality, the Office of Management and Budget, and the
Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Department of Agriculture,
the Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense, the Department of
Energy, the Department of the Interior, the Department of State, the
Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That it is the sense of Congress that--
(1) United States leadership is still urgently needed to
act to address the human-caused climate crisis that
disproportionately affects the health, economic opportunity,
and fundamental rights of children in the United States; and
(2) there is a human-caused climate crisis that--
(A) has inspired children across the United States
to organize and demand immediate government 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 CO<INF>2</INF> to
below 350 parts per million by the year 2100 to uphold
children's fundamental rights.
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