[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 36 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 36
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States, States,
cities, Tribal nations, 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
January 24, 2025
Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Smith,
Mr. Sanders, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Welch, Mr. Reed, Mr.
Whitehouse, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Booker, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Schiff, Mr.
Padilla, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Coons, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Rosen,
and Ms. Duckworth) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States, States,
cities, Tribal nations, businesses, institutions of higher education,
and other institutions in the United States should work toward
achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Whereas 195 of the 198 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change have 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 Climate Change 2023 Synthesis Report by the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change found that--
(1) human activity has been the dominant cause of observed climate
change over the past century;
(2) human-caused climate change has led to widespread and rapid changes
in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere;
(3) vulnerable communities that have historically contributed the least
to human-caused climate change are disproportionately affected by its
impacts;
(4) adverse impact from human-caused climate change will continue to
intensify;
(5) continued emissions will further impact all components of the
climate system, and changes in weather and climate extremes will become
larger;
(6) in the near term, global warming is more likely than not to reach
1.5 degrees Celsius even under low greenhouse gas emission scenarios;
(7) economic damages from climate change are present in climate-exposed
sectors like agriculture, forestry, fishery, energy, and tourism;
(8) global temperatures must be kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius above
pre-industrialized levels to avoid the most severe impacts of a changing
climate;
(9) limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will require rapid,
deep, and immediate greenhouse gas emission reductions; and
(10) deep, rapid, and sustained mitigation and adaptation measures
between 2020 and 2030 would help to reduce loss and damage for humans and
ecosystems;
Whereas, in 2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported
27 disasters that each resulted in at least $1,000,000,000 in damages
and, in total, an estimated amount of $182,700,000,000 in damages;
Whereas the National Aeronautics and Space Administration determined that in
2020, the decrease in greenhouse gas emissions in the United States was
due to the economic recession associated with the impacts of the
coronavirus pandemic;
Whereas, in 2021 and 2022, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel consumption
in the United States rose 8 percent relative to 2020 and 1 percent
relative to 2021, returning to pre-pandemic levels;
Whereas, in 2022, the Energy Information Administration reported that renewable
energy generated more power than coal for the first time in the United
States;
Whereas, in 2023, approximately 40 percent of the global electricity supply was
provided by zero-carbon sources, according to the International Energy
Agency;
Whereas, in 2024, automakers sold more than 1,300,000 electric vehicles in the
United States, making up 8 percent of all new vehicles sales;
Whereas 32 States have released a climate plan;
Whereas 29 States and the District of Columbia adopted a renewable portfolio
standard;
Whereas 36 States and the District of Columbia have adopted clean vehicle
policies;
Whereas 24 States and the District of Columbia have adopted greenhouse gas
emissions targets;
Whereas 33 States have adopted energy efficiency resource standards;
Whereas 11 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 3 percent per year from 2021 through
2030, with a current goal of reducing power sector emissions among the
participating States by 30 percent below 2020 levels by 2030;
Whereas the State of California has a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions to 48 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and reduce greenhouse
gas emissions by 85 percent by 2045;
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, since Public Law 117-168 (commonly known as the `Inflation Reduction
Act'), the largest United States investment in climate and clean energy
in history was passed in August 2022, clean energy companies have
announced or advanced nearly 750 projects, more than $422,000,000,000 in
investments, and created more than 400,000 new clean energy jobs;
Whereas more than 85 percent of the investments from the Inflation Reduction Act
were made in counties with below average college graduation rates and
more than 75 percent of investments were made in areas with below
average median household incomes;
Whereas the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58) and the
Inflation Reduction Act are estimated to create up to 1,700,000 new jobs
by 2030 and 2,900,000 jobs by 2035;
Whereas, in 2024, the United States submitted a new nationally determined
contribution, in accordance with the Paris Agreement, to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by 61 to 66 percent below
2005 levels by 2035, which is made possible in part by programs and
investments supported by the Inflation Reduction Act and the
Infrastructure Law Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58);
Whereas, in 2023, more money was invested in solar energy than in oil for the
first time globally;
Whereas, in 2023, more than 8,300,000 people in the United States worked in the
energy sector in all 50 States, including in industries relating to wind
energy, solar energy, energy efficiency, clean vehicles, and energy
storage;
Whereas, in 2023, approximately 495,871 people in the United States were working
in the solar and wind industries, including roofers, electricians, and
steel workers;
Whereas the 2024 U.S. Energy and Employment Jobs Report published by the
Department of Energy found that new clean energy jobs are outpacing the
rest of the energy sector and United States economy by more than 2
times;
Whereas the vehicle emissions standards updated by the Environmental Protection
Agency in 2024 for vehicle model years 2027 through 2032 are predicted--
(1) to provide $13,000,000,000 in annual health benefits from air
pollution reduction;
(2) to save drivers nearly $6,000 over the lifetime of a new vehicle
from fuel and maintenance costs; and
(3) to prevent 25,000 premature deaths;
Whereas the America Is All In coalition--
(1) has evolved from the 2017 launched We Are Still In Coalition to
become the largest subnational climate coalition in the United States
composed of States, Tribal nations, cities, businesses, universities,
healthcare organizations, faith groups, and cultural institutions;
(2) has committed to uphold the Paris Agreement and formally reaffirmed
that commitment at the recent ninth anniversary of the landmark Paris
Agreement;
(3) represents approximately \3/4\ of the gross domestic product of the
United States and \2/3\ of the population of the United States through city
and State partners; and
(4) has committed to supporting subnational climate leaders as they
build climate resilience and sustainable supply chains;
Whereas on the day before President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the
United States from the Paris Agreement on June 1, 2017, Hua Chunying,
spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic
of China, which is the world's current largest emitter of greenhouse gas
emissions, said ``China will stay committed to upholding and promoting
the global governance on climate change, and take an active part in the
multilateral process on climate change and promote green, low-carbon and
sustainable growth of the world.'';
Whereas, according to the International Energy Agency, China has made more than
$800,000,000,000 in foreign investment in clean energy and energy
storage infrastructure around the world since 2016; and
Whereas the United States needs both a fully engaged Federal Government and
States, cities, businesses, and all subnational actors working together
to reduce emissions, avoid the worst effects of climate change, and
compete in the global clean energy market: 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 clear intents and efforts of
businesses, investors, and whole-of-American-society to take
action on climate change.
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