December 10, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 197 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page S6953]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 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

  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:

                              S. Res. 449

       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--
          (A) mass migration from regions most affected by climate 
     change;
          (B) more than $500,000,000,000 in lost annual economic 
     output in the United States by the year 2100;
          (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;
          (D) a loss of greater than 99 percent of all coral reefs 
     on Earth;
          (E) more than 350,000,000 more people to be exposed 
     globally to deadly heat stress by 2050; and
          (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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