To seek the renegotiation of the Paris Agreement on climate change or the negotiation of a new agreement, including the requirement for the Senate to provide its advice and consent to ratification of any such agreement, and for other purposes.

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2578 To seek the renegotiation of the Paris Agreement on climate change or the negotiation of a new agreement, including the requirement for the Senate to provide its advice and consent to ratification of any such agreement, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 15, 2021 Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana (for himself, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. MCCARTHY, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. WESTERMAN, Ms. FOXX, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, Mrs. MILLER of West Virginia, and Mr. ARMSTRONG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To seek the renegotiation of the Paris Agreement on climate change or the negotiation of a new agreement, including the requirement for the Senate to provide its advice and consent to ratification of any such agreement, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2578.IH H2578 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2578 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may cited as the ‘‘Paris Transparency and 2 Accountability Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT THE UNITED STATES 4 SHOULD NOT REENTER THE PARIS AGREE- 5 MENT ABSENT FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS AND 6 ADVICE AND CONSENT TO RATIFICATION OF 7 THE UNITED STATES SENATE. 8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 9 (1) On May 9, 1992, the United States Senate 10 provided its advice and consent to ratification re- 11 garding the United Nations Framework Convention 12 on Climate Change (Framework Convention), which 13 entered into force on March 21, 1994. 14 (2) The Framework Convention was ratified 15 under the express limitation that a decision by the 16 Conference of the Parties to adopt targets and time- 17 tables would have to be submitted to the Senate for 18 its advice and consent. 19 (3) The Kyoto Protocol, completed at the 3d 20 Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Framework 21 Convention in December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, con- 22 tains emissions targets and timetables, and was 23 signed by the Clinton Administration on behalf of 24 the United States but never submitted to the Senate 25 for its advice and consent to ratification. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2578.IH H2578 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2578 IH (4) The United Nations Climate Change 1 website states: ‘‘The Paris Agreement is a legally 2 binding international treaty on climate change.’’. 3 And yet this United Nations designated ‘‘legally 4 binding international treaty’’ has never been sub- 5 mitted to the United States Senate for advice and 6 consent as required of treaties under article II, sec- 7 tion 2 of the Constitution. 8 (5) The Paris Agreement and every article and 9 clause thereof was accepted by President Barack 10 Obama on behalf of the United States solely through 11 executive action, rather than submitted to the Sen- 12 ate for its advice and consent to ratification. 13 (6) Implementation of the Paris Agreement 14 would serve as justification for pursuing unilateral 15 and punitive policies harmful to United States eco- 16 nomic competitiveness, including significant job loss, 17 increased energy and consumer costs, risks to grid 18 reliability, or any combination thereof. 19 (7) When originally negotiating the Paris 20 Agreement, incoming Special Presidential Envoy for 21 Climate John Kerry stated, if . . . ‘‘all the indus- 22 trial nations went down to zero emissions, it 23 wouldn’t be enough, not when more than 65 percent 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2578.IH H2578 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2578 IH of the world’s carbon pollution comes from the devel- 1 oping world’’. 2 (8) The Paris Agreement allows the People’s 3 Republic of China, the world’s second largest econ- 4 omy and largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, to 5 continue as a developing country, and therefore jus- 6 tify energy and industrial policies that undermine 7 the economic and security interests of the United 8 States and its allies, and significantly increase emis- 9 sions in the foreseeable future. 10 (9) The People’s Republic of China is on track 11 to increase its emissions by roughly 50 percent by 12 2030, consistent with the 2014 agreement with the 13 Obama Administration and its pledge under the 14 Paris Agreement. 15 (10) Since 2005 the People’s Republic of China 16 increased emissions by four tons for every ton of 17 emissions reduced by the United States during the 18 same period. 19 (11) To protect the interests of the United 20 States and its citizens, prior to its submission to the 21 United States Senate for its advice and consent to 22 ratification, the Paris Agreement should be renegoti- 23 ated or new agreement negotiated to ensure the Peo- 24 ple’s Republic of China reduces greenhouse gas 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2578.IH H2578 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2578 IH emissions at a pace and scale equivalent to that of 1 the United States. 2 (12) Through innovation and free market 3 forces, the United States has reduced its carbon di- 4 oxide emissions more than any other country in the 5 world, including the next 12 emissions-reducing 6 countries combined over the past 15 years. 7 (13) Between 1994 and 2018, global green- 8 house gas emissions grew significantly despite nearly 9 a quarter century of international climate agree- 10 ments and in spite of the United States, the Euro- 11 pean Union and other Organisation for Economic 12 Co-operation and Development (OECD) and G7 na- 13 tions reducing their emissions during the same time 14 period. 15 (14) The emissions reduction goals of the Paris 16 Agreement cannot be met without the development 17 and global deployment of affordable energy tech- 18 nologies, including storage, nuclear, and clean fossil 19 technologies, as well as commercial-scale carbon, 20 capture, utilization, and storage technologies. 21 (15) American economic growth and prosperity 22 is essential to the development and deployment of 23 these technologies to address global energy security 24 and reduction of global emissions. Punitive policies 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2578.IH H2578 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2578 IH such as taxes, mandates and regulations that in- 1 crease the cost of energy and American manufac- 2 turing will divert resources from the innovation of 3 affordable technologies necessary to reduce global 4 emissions. 5 (16) Global competitors to exported American 6 liquified natural gas, such as Russian produced nat- 7 ural gas, have lifecycle emissions up to 50 percent 8 higher than American exported liquified natural gas, 9 and domestic policies such as taxes, mandates, regu- 10 lations or banning of the domestically produced en- 11 ergy resource will result in higher global emissions 12 and run counter to the goals of international efforts 13 to reduce emissions all while hurting America’s com- 14 petitiveness, security, and economic interests. 15 (17) The United States withdrew from the 16 Paris Agreement, pursuant to the terms of the 17 Agreement, which President Donald J. Trump first 18 announced on June 1, 2017, and took effect on No- 19 vember 4, 2020. 20 (18) On January 20, 2021, President Joseph 21 R. Biden, Jr., signed an Executive order providing 22 for the United States to reenter the Paris Agree- 23 ment. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2578.IH H2578 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2578 IH (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 1 gress that the United States should not reenter the Paris 2 Agreement and Congress should refuse to consider any 3 budget resolutions and appropriations language that in- 4 clude funding for the Green Climate Fund or any affili- 5 ated body or financing mechanism— 6 (1) until the Paris Agreement is renegotiated, 7 or a new agreement is reached, in a manner that 8 would result in all major emitters, including the Peo- 9 ple’s Republic of China, reducing their greenhouse 10 gas emissions to levels comparable to the United 11 States; and 12 (2) unless such agreement— 13 (A) is submitted to the United States Sen- 14 ate for its advice and consent to ratification; 15 and 16 (B) subsequently approved by the United 17 States Senate exercising its responsibilities 18 under Article II of the Constitution of the 19 United States. 20 SEC. 3. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION RELATING TO PARIS 21 AGREEMENT. 22 (a) RELATING TO PARIS AGREEMENT.—Nothing in 23 the Paris Agreement may be used to establish or dem- 24 onstrate the existence of a violation of United States law 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2578.IH H2578 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2578 IH or an offense against the law of nations in United States 1 courts, including— 2 (1) to establish standing, a cause of action, or 3 a source of damages as a matter of law; or 4 (2) to demonstrate whether an action by a Fed- 5 eral agency is arbitrary or capricious, an abuse of 6 discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law. 7 (b) RELATING TO THIS ACT.—Nothing in subsection 8 (a) may be construed to modify or limit any obligation 9 of the United States pursuant to an international treaty 10 that was ratified by the President with the advice and con- 11 sent of the Senate, including the United Nations Frame- 12 work Convention on Climate Change. 13 SEC. 4. ACTIONS TO ESTABLISH OR REVISE UNITED STATES 14 NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTION 15 UNDER THE PARIS AGREEMENT. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any action to establish or revise 17 the United States nationally determined contribution 18 under the Paris Agreement shall have force and effect only 19 if— 20 (1) before the President submits the nationally 21 determined contribution to the United Nations 22 Framework Convention on Climate Change Secre- 23 tariat, the President submits to Congress a report 24 that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2578.IH H2578 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2578 IH (A) describes the proposed action; 1 (B) includes a plan for the United States 2 to meet its nationally determined contribution 3 under the Paris Agreement that includes— 4 (i) a complete description of measures 5 under the authority of the Federal Govern- 6 ment necessary to achieve the United 7 States nationally determined contribution, 8 including new or revised regulations, new 9 or revised authorities that require congres- 10 sional actions, and new or revised financial 11 incentives; 12 (ii) a description of how the United 13 States will use the Paris Agreement’s 14 transparency provisions to confirm that 15 other parties to the Agreement, including 16 all major emitters, are fulfilling their an- 17 nounced contributions to the Agreement; 18 (iii) a description of how the United 19 States will utilize numerous energy 20 sources, including nuclear, fossil fuel, and 21 renewable technologies, to meet the nation- 22 ally determined contribution; 23 (iv) a description of any impact on 24 grid resilience and reliability that would re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2578.IH H2578 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2578 IH sult from policies necessary to meet the na- 1 tionally determined contribution; 2 (v) a description of how the nationally 3 determined contribution will promote the 4 availability of diversified energy supplies 5 and a well-functioning global market for 6 energy resources, technologies, and exper- 7 tise for the benefit of the United States 8 and United States allies and trading part- 9 ners; 10 (vi) a description of how the nation- 11 ally determined contribution will support 12 United States international efforts to al- 13 leviate energy poverty; 14 (vii) an analysis of the impact of in- 15 creased costs of energy or vital household 16 expenditures on low- or middle-income 17 families, and any disproportionate or in- 18 creased burden on such families, as a re- 19 sult of the nationally determined contribu- 20 tion; 21 (viii) a description of how the nation- 22 ally determined contribution will support 23 United States efforts to counter malign 24 Chinese, Russian, and other adversarial in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2578.IH H2578 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2578 IH fluence and domination over energy supply 1 chains; and 2 (ix) a description of how the nation- 3 ally determined contribution will impact 4 United States national security interests; 5 (C) includes, for any measure described in 6 subparagraph (B)(i) that could result in in- 7 creased costs of energy produced or consumed 8 in the United States or increased costs to man- 9 ufacture or produce goods or resources in the 10 United States, a description of specific policy 11 measures to prevent— 12 (i) job displacement that would result 13 as a result of any such measure; 14 (ii) reduced global competitiveness of 15 goods and resources manufactured or pro- 16 duced in the United States as a result of 17 any such measure; and 18 (iii) leaked emissions, including new 19 or increased lifecycle greenhouse gas emis- 20 sions that will occur outside of the United 21 States, as a result of any such measure; 22 (D) includes a specific timeline for imple- 23 menting the specific policy measures described 24 in subparagraph (C) in a manner that such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2578.IH H2578 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2578 IH measures are fully implemented and in effect 1 prior to, or simultaneously with, the implemen- 2 tation and effect of the measures described in 3 subparagraph (B)(i) in order to effectively 4 counteract any negative impacts on domestic 5 jobs and manufacturing; 6 (E) includes an analysis of th [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]