A resolution 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.

III 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 449 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Nation, States, cities, Tribal nations, and businesses, institutions of higher education, and other insti- tutions in the United States should work toward achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 10, 2019 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 RESOLUTION 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. Whereas all of the 197 parties to the United Nations Frame- work Convention on Climate Change have signed or ac- ceded to the decision by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 21st Conference of Par- ties in Paris, France, adopted December 12, 2015 (re- ferred to in this preamble as the ‘‘Paris Agreement’’); VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR449.IS SR449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •SRES 449 IS 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 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 infrastructure and human life; (3) global warming at or above 2 degrees Celsius be- yond 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 de- grees 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-emit- VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR449.IS SR449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •SRES 449 IS ting vehicles, energy efficiency, reforestation, and ac- counting of carbon emissions equal to the social and envi- ronmental 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 emis- sions 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 adopt- ed greenhouse gas emissions targets; Whereas 27 States have adopted energy efficiency resource standards; Whereas 10 States have adopted zero-emission vehicle tar- gets; 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 de- clines 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 Pennsyl- vania are making efforts to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in 2020; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR449.IS SR449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •SRES 449 IS 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 com- panies 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 indus- tries relating to wind energy, solar energy, energy effi- ciency, clean vehicles, and energy storage; Whereas, in 2017, approximately 457,000 people in the United States were working in the solar and wind indus- tries, 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 emis- sions 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR449.IS SR449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •SRES 449 IS (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 emis- sions of the United States; (2) are already making significant contributions to emissions reductions; and (3) have the potential to reduce emissions even fur- ther; Whereas the We Are Still In coalition— (1) has committed to uphold the Paris Agreement and the commitment of the United States to reduce emis- sions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025; and (2) since the launch of the coalition in 2017, has tri- pled in size to nearly 4,000 cities, States, businesses, uni- versities, healthcare organizations, faith groups, and cul- tural institutions in all 50 States as of 2019; and Whereas the United States needs both a fully engaged Fed- eral Government and cities, States, and businesses work- ing together to reduce emissions and avoid the worst im- pacts of climate change: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 1 United States— 2 (1) should remain a party to the Paris Agree- 3 ment; 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR449.IS SR449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •SRES 449 IS (2) should support policies at the Federal, 1 State, and local level that promote the reduction of 2 global warming pollution and aim to meet the objec- 3 tives of the Paris Agreement; and 4 (3) should support the efforts of businesses and 5 investors to take action on climate change. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR449.IS SR449 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS