January 24, 2025
Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Smith, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Welch, Mr. Reed, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Booker, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Coons, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Rosen, and Ms. Duckworth) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States, States, cities, Tribal nations, businesses, institutions of higher education, and other institutions in the United States should work toward achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Whereas 195 of the 198 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have 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 Climate Change 2023 Synthesis Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that—
(1)
human activity has been the dominant cause of observed climate change over the past century;
(2)
human-caused climate change has led to widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere;
(3)
vulnerable communities that have historically contributed the least to human-caused climate change are disproportionately affected by its impacts;
(4)
adverse impact from human-caused climate change will continue to intensify;
(5)
continued emissions will further impact all components of the climate system, and changes in weather and climate extremes will become larger;
(6)
in the near term, global warming is more likely than not to reach 1.5 degrees Celsius even under low greenhouse gas emission scenarios;
(7)
economic damages from climate change are present in climate-exposed sectors like agriculture, forestry, fishery, energy, and tourism;
(8)
global temperatures must be kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrialized levels to avoid the most severe impacts of a changing climate;
(9)
limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will require rapid, deep, and immediate greenhouse gas emission reductions; and
(10)
deep, rapid, and sustained mitigation and adaptation measures between 2020 and 2030 would help to reduce loss and damage for humans and ecosystems;
Whereas, in 2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported 27 disasters that each resulted in at least $1,000,000,000 in damages and, in total, an estimated amount of $182,700,000,000 in damages;
Whereas the National Aeronautics and Space Administration determined that in 2020, the decrease in greenhouse gas emissions in the United States was due to the economic recession associated with the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic;
Whereas, in 2021 and 2022, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel consumption in the United States rose 8 percent relative to 2020 and 1 percent relative to 2021, returning to pre-pandemic levels;
Whereas, in 2022, the Energy Information Administration reported that renewable energy generated more power than coal for the first time in the United States;
Whereas, in 2023, approximately 40 percent of the global electricity supply was provided by zero-carbon sources, according to the International Energy Agency;
Whereas, in 2024, automakers sold more than 1,300,000 electric vehicles in the United States, making up 8 percent of all new vehicles sales;
Whereas 32 States have released a climate plan;
Whereas 29 States and the District of Columbia adopted a renewable portfolio standard;
Whereas 36 States and the District of Columbia have adopted clean vehicle policies;
Whereas 24 States and the District of Columbia have adopted greenhouse gas emissions targets;
Whereas 33 States have adopted energy efficiency resource standards;
Whereas 11 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 3 percent per year from 2021 through 2030, with a current goal of reducing power sector emissions among the participating States by 30 percent below 2020 levels by 2030;
Whereas the State of California has a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 48 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent by 2045;
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, since Public Law 117–168 (commonly known as the ‘Inflation Reduction Act’), the largest United States investment in climate and clean energy in history was passed in August 2022, clean energy companies have announced or advanced nearly 750 projects, more than $422,000,000,000 in investments, and created more than 400,000 new clean energy jobs;
Whereas more than 85 percent of the investments from the Inflation Reduction Act were made in counties with below average college graduation rates and more than 75 percent of investments were made in areas with below average median household incomes;
Whereas the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117–58) and the Inflation Reduction Act are estimated to create up to 1,700,000 new jobs by 2030 and 2,900,000 jobs by 2035;
Whereas, in 2024, the United States submitted a new nationally determined contribution, in accordance with the Paris Agreement, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by 61 to 66 percent below 2005 levels by 2035, which is made possible in part by programs and investments supported by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Law Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117–58);
Whereas, in 2023, more money was invested in solar energy than in oil for the first time globally;
Whereas, in 2023, more than 8,300,000 people in the United States worked in the energy sector in all 50 States, including in industries relating to wind energy, solar energy, energy efficiency, clean vehicles, and energy storage;
Whereas, in 2023, approximately 495,871 people in the United States were working in the solar and wind industries, including roofers, electricians, and steel workers;
Whereas the 2024 U.S. Energy and Employment Jobs Report published by the Department of Energy found that new clean energy jobs are outpacing the rest of the energy sector and United States economy by more than 2 times;
Whereas the vehicle emissions standards updated by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2024 for vehicle model years 2027 through 2032 are predicted—
(1)
to provide $13,000,000,000 in annual health benefits from air pollution reduction;
(2)
to save drivers nearly $6,000 over the lifetime of a new vehicle from fuel and maintenance costs; and
(3)
to prevent 25,000 premature deaths;
Whereas the America Is All In coalition—
(1)
has evolved from the 2017 launched We Are Still In Coalition to become the largest subnational climate coalition in the United States composed of States, Tribal nations, cities, businesses, universities, healthcare organizations, faith groups, and cultural institutions;
(2)
has committed to uphold the Paris Agreement and formally reaffirmed that commitment at the recent ninth anniversary of the landmark Paris Agreement;
(3)
represents approximately 3/4 of the gross domestic product of the United States and 2/3 of the population of the United States through city and State partners; and
(4)
has committed to supporting subnational climate leaders as they build climate resilience and sustainable supply chains;
Whereas on the day before President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement on June 1, 2017, Hua Chunying, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, which is the world’s current largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, said China will stay committed to upholding and promoting the global governance on climate change, and take an active part in the multilateral process on climate change and promote green, low-carbon and sustainable growth of the world.
;
Whereas, according to the International Energy Agency, China has made more than $800,000,000,000 in foreign investment in clean energy and energy storage infrastructure around the world since 2016; and
Whereas the United States needs both a fully engaged Federal Government and States, cities, businesses, and all subnational actors working together to reduce emissions, avoid the worst effects of climate change, and compete in the global clean energy market: Now, therefore, be it
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 clear intents and efforts of businesses, investors, and whole-of-American-society to take action on climate change.