Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Climate Solutions Act of 2015”.
Climate Solutions Act of 2015
A BILL
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the climate.
Sec. 2 Findings; sense of Congress
Findings— The Congress finds as follows:
The United States has the objective of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent “dangerous anthropogenic interference” with the climate system by becoming a party to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, pledging to China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 28 percent of their 2005 levels by 2025, and regulating greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources, mobile sources, and electrical power suppliers.
To achieve this objective, the increase in global mean surface temperature should not exceed 2°C (3.6°F) above preindustrial temperature, much of which is already projected to occur by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The risks associated with a temperature increase above 2°C (3.6°F) are grave, including the disintegration of the Greenland ice sheet, which, if it were to melt completely, would raise global average sea level by approximately 23 feet, devastating many of the world’s coastal areas and population centers.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that temperatures will rise between 1.8°C to 4.0°C (3.2°F to 7.2°F) by the end of the century, under a range of expected emissions trends, but if there are common goals to limit greenhouse gas emissions, the temperature increase can be limited to 2°C (3.6°F) or less.
Serious global warming impacts have already been observed in the United States and worldwide, including—
increases in heat waves and other extreme weather events;
rise in sea level, retreat of glaciers and polar ice;
decline in mountain snowpack, increased drought (including droughts in the West and South United States) resulting in damage to our economy and property;
extreme weather conditions resulting in wildfires, stronger hurricanes and polar vortex occurrences resulting in further damage to property and our economy;
damage to our environment such as ocean acidification, extensive coral bleaching, migrations, and shifts in the yearly cycles of plants and animals; and
effects on human population including population displacement and adverse health effects such as the spread of infectious diseases and climate-related conditions such as asthma.
Scientists project that under a midrange estimate of global warming, by 2050, roughly 25 percent of animal and plant species will be committed to extinction.
Decisive action is needed to minimize the many dangers posed by global warming.
The timing of such action is critical, given that greenhouse gases can persist in the atmosphere for more than a century.
The International Energy Agency has warned in its most recent World Energy Outlook report that, unless there is a serious commitment to investing in zero carbon renewable energy resources, much of the amount of projected limits necessary to avoid greenhouse-gas-emission-caused dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system will be locked in and exceeded.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Low Carbon Economy Index Report estimates that carbon-based fuel use needs to be reduced 6.5 percent per year through the year 2100, nearly six times the current rate, to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
With only 5 percent of the world population, the United States emits approximately 20 percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions and must be a leader in addressing global warming.
The State of California, the 8th largest economy in the world, has shown that renewable energy standards and greenhouse gas emissions regulation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while fostering significant economic growth.
Existing energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy technologies can reduce global warming pollution, while saving consumers money, reducing our dependence on oil, enhancing national security, cleaning the air, and protecting pristine places from drilling and mining.
Sense of Congress— It is the sense of the Congress that the United States should participate in negotiations under the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and honor its commitments therefrom with the objective of securing United States participation in agreements that—
establish mitigation commitments by all countries that are major emitters of greenhouse gases, consistent with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities;
achieve reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions at a pace and level sufficient to avoid dangerous interference with the Earth’s climate; and
advance and protect the economic and national security interests of the United States.