To oppose the use of the National Emergencies Act to declare a national emergency relating to climate change.

IV 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 125 To oppose the use of the National Emergencies Act to declare a national emergency relating to climate change. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 15, 2021 Mr. PFLUGER (for himself, Mr. CLOUD, Mr. JACKSON, and Mr. BURGESS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned RESOLUTION To oppose the use of the National Emergencies Act to declare a national emergency relating to climate change. Whereas, on January 27, 2021, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer declared that ‘‘It might be a good idea for President Biden to call a climate emergency’’ and that ‘‘He can do many, many things under the emergency powers . . . that he could do without legislation.’’; Whereas the National Emergencies Act (NEA) was enacted with the intent of reining in emergency executive author- ity and preserving an appropriate balance of power be- tween the coequal legislative and executive branches of government; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Feb 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR125.IH HR125 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 125 IH Whereas the declaration of a national emergency for purposes of addressing a so-called climate crisis would fall outside the bounds of an emergency as contemplated by the NEA; Whereas the late Edward S. Corwin, an eminent constitu- tional scholar, explained emergency conditions as being those that ‘‘have not attained enough of stability or re- currency to admit of their being dealt with according to rule’’; Whereas if there were to declare a climate national emer- gency, President Biden would undeniably break his pledge to ‘‘be a president for all Americans, all Ameri- cans’’ and that he would ‘‘fight as hard for those who did not support me as those who did’’; Whereas, as a candidate, President Biden noted that the President ‘‘can’t [legislate] by executive order unless you‘re a dictator. We’re a democracy. We need con- sensus.’’; Whereas President Biden has already undertaken a plethora of executive actions that would directly reverse or under- mine important and commonsense deregulatory actions of the Trump administration, including that Biden has or- dered the United States to rejoin the Paris Agreement, begun the process of reversing President Trump’s Waters of the United States Rule, shuttered the Keystone XL Pipeline project, and halted energy production activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; Whereas a climate national emergency, and actions taken pursuant thereto, would magnify his environment agenda that is littered with policies that would drive up consumer costs, produce job losses, drive up Federal deficits, in- VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Feb 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR125.IH HR125 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 125 IH crease dependence on oil from foreign countries, and gen- erally disadvantage the United States with nations such as Saudi Arabia and Mexico, as well as adversaries such as China, Russia, Iran, and Venezuela; Whereas according to the Brennan Center for Justice, ‘‘Emergency powers cover almost every imaginable sub- ject area, including the military, land use, public health, trade, federal pay schedules, agriculture, transportation, communications, and criminal law’’ and the Brennan Center has identified 136 statutory provisions available during national emergencies; Whereas the myriad of ways in which Biden could seek to carry out his expansive climate agenda cannot be pre- dicted with certainty; Whereas President Biden’s climate agenda includes broad, far-reaching policy proposals that extend far past the acute, severe emergencies envisioned under the National Emergencies Act, such as a commitment to end the use of all fossil fuels by 2050, decarbonizing the food and ag- riculture sectors, and unprecedented Federal spending on clean energy research and innovation; Whereas President Biden would be broadly empowered to as- sert Federal control in domestic and international eco- nomic matters with no guardrails clearly defining the pa- rameters of the emergency; and Whereas the United States of America has already reduced CO2 emissions to a 20-year low: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) opposes use of the National Emergencies 2 Act to declare a so-called ‘‘climate emergency’’; 3 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Feb 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR125.IH HR125 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 125 IH (2) recognizes that any policy-making action 1 taken to address global climate conditions should be 2 undertaken by the legislative branch, not through 3 unilateral executive action; 4 (3) recognizes that addressing global climate 5 conditions through the National Emergencies Act 6 would violate the purpose of the Act as well as sepa- 7 ration of powers; and 8 (4) opposes executive actions that would in- 9 crease the United States dependence on foreign oil, 10 deprive Americans of jobs, increase consumer costs, 11 or disadvantage the United States relative to adver- 12 sarial nations such as Russia and China. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Feb 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR125.IH HR125 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS