A resolution recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal.

III 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 166 Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 20, 2021 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. BOOK- ER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Environment and Public Works RESOLUTION Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal. Whereas the October 2018 report entitled ‘‘Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 oC’’ by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the November 2018 Fourth National Climate Assessment report found that— (1) human activity is the dominant cause of ob- served 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 human life, healthy communities, and critical infrastructure; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR166.IS SR166 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 166 IS (3) global warming at or greater than 2 degrees Cel- sius beyond preindustrialized levels will cause— (A) mass migration from the regions most af- fected 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 more 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 $1,000,000,000,000 of public infrastructure and coastal real estate in the United States; and (4) global temperatures must be kept less than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrialized levels to avoid the most severe impacts of a changing climate, which will re- quire— (A) global reductions in greenhouse gas emis- sions from human sources of 40 to 60 percent from 2010 levels by 2030; and (B) net-zero global emissions by 2050; Whereas, because the United States has historically been re- sponsible for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions, having emitted 20 percent of global green- house gas emissions through 2014, and has a high tech- nological capacity, the United States must take a leading role in reducing emissions through economic trans- formation; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR166.IS SR166 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 166 IS Whereas the United States is currently experiencing several related crises, with— (1) life expectancy declining while basic needs, such as clean air, clean water, healthy food, and adequate health care, housing, transportation, and education, are inaccessible to a significant portion of the United States population; (2) a 4-decade trend of wage stagnation, deindustrialization, and antilabor policies that has led to— (A) hourly wages overall stagnating since the 1970s despite increased worker productivity; (B) the third-worst level of socioeconomic mo- bility in the developed world before the Great Reces- sion; (C) the erosion of the earning and bargaining power of workers in the United States; and (D) inadequate resources for public sector workers to confront the challenges of climate change at the Federal, State, and local level; and (3) the greatest income inequality since the 1920s, with— (A) the top 1 percent of earners accruing 91 percent of gains in the first few years of economic recovery after the Great Recession; (B) a large racial wealth divide amounting to a difference of 20 times more wealth between the aver- age White family and the average Black family; and (C) a gender earnings gap that results in women earning approximately 80 percent as much as men, at the median; Whereas climate change, pollution, and environmental de- struction have exacerbated systemic racial, regional, so- VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR166.IS SR166 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 166 IS cial, environmental, and economic injustices (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘systemic injustices’’) by dispropor- tionately affecting indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized commu- nities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-in- come workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘frontline and vulnerable communities’’); Whereas, climate change constitutes a direct threat to the na- tional security of the United States— (1) by impacting the economic, environmental, and social stability of countries and communities around the world; and (2) by acting as a threat multiplier; Whereas the Federal Government-led mobilizations during World War II and the New Deal created the greatest middle class that the United States has ever seen, but many members of frontline and vulnerable communities were excluded from many of the economic and societal benefits of those mobilizations; and Whereas the Senate recognizes that a new national, social, in- dustrial, and economic mobilization on a scale not seen since World War II and the New Deal era is a historic opportunity— (1) to create millions of good, high-wage jobs in the United States; (2) to provide unprecedented levels of prosperity and economic security for all people of the United States; and (3) to counteract systemic injustices: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 1 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR166.IS SR166 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •SRES 166 IS (1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to 1 create a Green New Deal— 2 (A) to achieve the greenhouse gas and 3 toxic emissions reductions needed to stay under 4 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, through a fair 5 and just transition for all communities and 6 workers; 7 (B) to create millions of good, high-wage 8 union jobs and encourage collective bargaining 9 agreements to ensure prosperity and economic 10 security for all people of the United States; 11 (C) to invest in the infrastructure and in- 12 dustry of the United States to sustainably meet 13 the challenges of the 21st century; 14 (D) to secure for all people of the United 15 States for generations to come— 16 (i) clean air and water; 17 (ii) climate and community resiliency; 18 (iii) healthy food; 19 (iv) access to nature; and 20 (v) a sustainable environment; and 21 (E) to promote justice and equity by stop- 22 ping current, preventing future, and repairing 23 historic oppression of indigenous peoples, com- 24 munities of color, migrant communities, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR166.IS SR166 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •SRES 166 IS deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural 1 communities, the poor, low-income workers, 2 women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with 3 disabilities, and youth (referred to in this reso- 4 lution as ‘‘frontline and vulnerable commu- 5 nities’’); 6 (2) the goals described in subparagraphs (A) 7 through (E) of paragraph (1) (referred to in this 8 resolution as the ‘‘Green New Deal goals’’) should 9 be accomplished through a 10-year national mobili- 10 zation (referred to in this resolution as the ‘‘Green 11 New Deal mobilization’’) that will require— 12 (A) building resiliency against climate 13 change-related disasters, such as extreme 14 weather, including by leveraging funding and 15 providing investments for community-defined 16 projects and strategies; 17 (B) repairing and upgrading the infra- 18 structure in the United States, including— 19 (i) by eliminating pollution and green- 20 house gas emissions as much as techno- 21 logically feasible; 22 (ii) by guaranteeing universal access 23 to clean water; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR166.IS SR166 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •SRES 166 IS (iii) by reducing the risks posed by cli- 1 mate impacts; and 2 (iv) by ensuring that any infrastruc- 3 ture bill considered by Congress addresses 4 climate change; 5 (C) meeting 100 percent of the power de- 6 mand in the United States through clean, re- 7 newable, and zero-emission energy sources, in- 8 cluding— 9 (i) by dramatically expanding and up- 10 grading renewable power sources; and 11 (ii) by deploying new capacity; 12 (D) building or upgrading to energy-effi- 13 cient, distributed, and ‘‘smart’’ power grids and 14 ensuring affordable access to electricity; 15 (E) upgrading all existing buildings in the 16 United States and building new buildings to 17 achieve maximum energy efficiency, water effi- 18 ciency, safety, affordability, comfort, and dura- 19 bility, including through electrification; 20 (F) spurring massive growth in clean man- 21 ufacturing in the United States and removing 22 pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from 23 manufacturing and industry as much as is tech- 24 nologically feasible, including by expanding re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR166.IS SR166 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •SRES 166 IS newable energy manufacturing and investing in 1 existing manufacturing and industry; 2 (G) working collaboratively with farmers 3 and ranchers in the United States to remove 4 pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from 5 the agricultural sector as much as is techno- 6 logically feasible, including— 7 (i) by supporting family farming; 8 (ii) by investing in sustainable farm- 9 ing and land use practices that increase 10 soil health; and 11 (iii) by building a more sustainable 12 food system that ensures universal access 13 to healthy food; 14 (H) overhauling transportation systems in 15 the United States to remove pollution and 16 greenhouse gas emissions from the transpor- 17 tation sector as much as is technologically fea- 18 sible, including through investment in— 19 (i) zero-emission vehicle and non-mo- 20 torized alternative modes of transportation 21 infrastructure and manufacturing; 22 (ii) clean, affordable, and accessible 23 public transit; and 24 (iii) high-speed rail; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR166.IS SR166 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •SRES 166 IS (I) mitigating and managing the long-term 1 adverse health, economic, and other effects of 2 pollution and climate change, including by pro- 3 viding funding for community-defined projects 4 and strategies; 5 (J) removing greenhouse gases from the 6 atmosphere and reducing pollution by restoring 7 natural ecosystems through proven low-tech so- 8 lutions that increase soil carbon storage, such 9 as land preservation and afforestation; 10 (K) restoring and protecting threatened, 11 endangered, and fragile ecosystems through lo- 12 cally appropriate and science-based projects 13 that enhance biodiversity and support climate 14 resiliency; 15 (L) cleaning up existing hazardous waste 16 sites and abandoned sites and ensuring eco- 17 nomic development and sustainability on those 18 sites; 19 (M) identifying other emission and pollu- 20 tion sources and creating solutions to remove 21 them; and 22 (N) promoting the international exchange 23 of technology, expertise, products, funding, and 24 services, with the aim of making the United 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR166.IS SR166 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •SRES 166 IS States the international leader on climate action 1 and to help other countries achieve a Green 2 New Deal; 3 (3) a Green New Deal must be developed 4 through transparent and inclusive consultation, col- 5 laboration, and partnership with frontline and vul- 6 nerable communities, labor organizations, worker co- 7 operatives, civil society groups, academia, and busi- 8 nesses; and 9 (4) to achieve the Green New Deal goals and 10 mobilization, a Green New Deal will require— 11 (A) providing and leveraging, in a way that 12 ensures that the public receives appropriate 13 ownership stakes and returns on investment, 14 adequate capital (including through community 15 grants, public banks, and other public financ- 16 ing), technical expertise, supporting policies, 17 and other forms of assistance to communities, 18 organizations, Federal, State, and local govern- 19 ment agencies, and businesses working on the 20 Green New Deal mobilization; 21 (B) ensuring that the Federal Government 22 takes into account the complete environmental 23 and social costs and impacts of emissions 24 through— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR166.IS SR166 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •SRES 166 IS (i) existing laws; 1 (ii) new policies and programs; and 2 (iii) ensuring that frontline and vul- 3 nerable communities shall not be adversely 4 affected; 5 (C) providing resources, training, and 6 high-quality education, including higher edu- 7 cation, to all people of the United States, with 8 a focus on frontline and vulnerable commu- 9 nities, so that all people of the United States 10 may be full and equal participants in the Green 11 New Deal mobilization; 12 (D) making public investments in the re- 13 search and development of new clean and re- 14 newable energy technologies and industries; 15 (E) directing investments to spur economic 16 development, deepen and diversify industry and 17 business in local and regional economies, and 18 build wealth and community ownership, while 19 prioritizing high-quality job creation and eco- 20 nomic, social, and environmental benefits in 21 frontline and vulnerable communities, and 22 deindustrialized communities, that may other- 23 wise struggle with the transition away from 24 greenhouse gas intensive industries; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR166.IS SR166 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •SRES 166 IS (F) ensuring the use of democratic and 1 participatory processes that are inclusive of and 2 led by frontline and vulnerable communities and 3 workers to pla [Text truncated for display. 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