H.Res. 319

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 319 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 319

Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New 
Deal.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 24, 2023

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez (for herself, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Takano, Mr. Casar, Ms. 
Pingree, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Chu, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. 
Khanna, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Robert Garcia of California, Ms. 
Wilson of Florida, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. 
Espaillat, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Lee of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Mfume, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Norton, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. 
Huffman, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Moulton, 
Mr. Gomez, Ms. Porter, Mr. Carbajal, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Escobar, Ms. 
Meng, Mr. Sablan, Mr. Connolly, Ms. Adams, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. 
Balint, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Sherman, Mr. 
Davis of Illinois, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. 
Lieu, Ms. Stansbury, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Goldman of New York, 
Mr. Mullin, Mr. Magaziner, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Levin, Mr. Scott of 
Virginia, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Bonamici, Mrs. 
Watson Coleman, Ms. Omar, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. Torres of New 
York, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Bush, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Boyle of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Quigley, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Smith of Washington, Ms. 
Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Panetta, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Frost, Mr. McGovern, Mr. 
Higgins of New York, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Green 
of Texas, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Waters, Ms. Lofgren, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Neguse, 
Mr. Castro of Texas, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Keating, 
and Mr. Lynch) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the 
Committees on Science, Space, and Technology, Education and the 
Workforce, Transportation and Infrastructure, Agriculture, Natural 
Resources, Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, the Judiciary, Ways and 
Means, and Oversight and Accountability, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

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 \o\C'' 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 observed 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;

(3) global warming at or greater than 2 degrees Celsius beyond 
preindustrialized levels will cause--

G (A) mass migration from the regions most affected by climate 
change;

G (B) more than $500,000,000,000 in lost annual economic output in 
the United States by the year 2100;

G (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;

G (D) a loss of more than 99 percent of all coral reefs on Earth;

G (E) more than 350,000,000 more people to be exposed globally to 
deadly heat stress by 2050; and

G (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 require--

G (A) global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from human 
sources of 40 to 60 percent from 2010 levels by 2030; and

G (B) net-zero global emissions by 2050;

Whereas, because the United States has historically been responsible for a 
disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions, having emitted 20 
percent of global greenhouse gas emissions through 2014, and has a high 
technological capacity, the United States must take a leading role in 
reducing emissions through economic transformation;
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--

G (A) hourly wages overall stagnating since the 1970s despite 
increased worker productivity;

G (B) the third-worst level of socioeconomic mobility in the 
developed world before the Great Recession;

G (C) the erosion of the earning and bargaining power of workers in 
the United States; and

G (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--

G (A) the top 1 percent of earners accruing 91 percent of gains in 
the first few years of economic recovery after the Great Recession;

G (B) a large racial wealth divide amounting to a difference of 20 
times more wealth between the average White family and the average Black 
family; and

G (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 destruction have 
exacerbated systemic racial, regional, social, environmental, and 
economic injustices (referred to in this preamble as ``systemic 
injustices'') by disproportionately affecting indigenous peoples, 
communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, 
depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income 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 national 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 House of Representatives recognizes that a new national, social, 
industrial, 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 House of Representatives 
that--
(1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to create a 
Green New Deal--
(A) to achieve the greenhouse gas and toxic 
emissions reductions needed to stay under 1.5 degrees 
Celsius of warming, through a fair and just transition 
for all communities and workers;
(B) to create millions of good, high-wage union 
jobs and encourage collective bargaining agreements to 
ensure prosperity and economic security for all people 
of the United States;
(C) to invest in the infrastructure and industry of 
the United States to sustainably meet the challenges of 
the 21st century;
(D) to secure for all people of the United States 
for generations to come--
(i) clean air and water;
(ii) climate and community resiliency;
(iii) healthy food;
(iv) access to nature; and
(v) a sustainable environment; and
(E) to promote justice and equity by stopping 
current, preventing future, and repairing historic 
oppression of indigenous peoples, communities of color, 
migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, 
depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income 
workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with 
disabilities, and youth (referred to in this resolution 
as ``frontline and vulnerable communities'');
(2) the goals described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of 
paragraph (1) (referred to in this resolution as the ``Green 
New Deal goals'') should be accomplished through a 10-year 
national mobilization (referred to in this resolution as the 
``Green New Deal mobilization'') that will require--
(A) building resiliency against climate change-
related disasters, such as extreme weather, including 
by leveraging funding and providing investments for 
community-defined projects and strategies;
(B) repairing and upgrading the infrastructure in 
the United States, including--
(i) by eliminating pollution and greenhouse 
gas emissions as much as technologically 
feasible;
(ii) by guaranteeing universal access to 
clean water;
(iii) by reducing the risks posed by 
climate impacts; and
(iv) by ensuring that any infrastructure 
bill considered by Congress addresses climate 
change;
(C) meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the 
United States through clean, renewable, and zero-
emission energy sources, including--
(i) by dramatically expanding and upgrading 
renewable power sources; and
(ii) by deploying new capacity;
(D) building or upgrading to energy-efficient, 
distributed, and ``smart'' power grids and ensuring 
affordable access to electricity;
(E) upgrading all existing buildings in the United 
States and building new buildings to achieve maximum 
energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety, 
affordability, comfort, and durability, including 
through electrification;
(F) spurring massive growth in clean manufacturing 
in the United States and removing pollution and 
greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing and 
industry as much as is technologically feasible, 
including by expanding renewable energy manufacturing 
and investing in existing manufacturing and industry;
(G) working collaboratively with farmers and 
ranchers in the United States to remove pollution and 
greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector 
as much as is technologically feasible, including--
(i) by supporting family farming;
(ii) by investing in sustainable farming 
and land use practices that increase soil 
health; and
(iii) by building a more sustainable food 
system that ensures universal access to healthy 
food;
(H) overhauling transportation systems in the 
United States to remove pollution and greenhouse gas 
emissions from the transportation sector as much as is 
technologically feasible, including through investment 
in--
(i) zero-emission vehicle and non-motorized 
alternative modes of transportation 
infrastructure and manufacturing;
(ii) clean, affordable, and accessible 
public transit; and
(iii) high-speed rail;
(I) mitigating and managing the long-term adverse 
health, economic, and other effects of pollution and 
climate change, including by providing funding for 
community-defined projects and strategies;
(J) removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere 
and reducing pollution by restoring natural ecosystems 
through proven low-tech solutions that increase soil 
carbon storage, such as land preservation and 
afforestation;
(K) restoring and protecting threatened, 
endangered, and fragile ecosystems through locally 
appropriate and science-based projects that enhance 
biodiversity and support climate resiliency;
(L) cleaning up existing hazardous waste sites and 
abandoned sites and ensuring economic development and 
sustainability on those sites;
(M) identifying other emission and pollution 
sources and creating solutions to remove them; and
(N) promoting the international exchange of 
technology, expertise, products, funding, and services, 
with the aim of making the United States the 
international leader on climate action and to help 
other countries achieve a Green New Deal;
(3) a Green New Deal must be developed through transparent 
and inclusive consultation, collaboration, and partnership with 
frontline and vulnerable communities, labor organizations, 
worker cooperatives, civil society groups, academia, and 
businesses; and
(4) to achieve the Green New Deal goals and mobilization, a 
Green New Deal will require--
(A) providing and leveraging, in a way that ensures 
that the public receives appropriate ownership stakes 
and returns on investment, adequate capital (including 
through community grants, public banks, and other 
public financing), technical expertise, supporting 
policies, and other forms of assistance to communities, 
organizations, Federal, State, and local government 
agencies, and businesses working on the Green New Deal 
mobilization;
(B) ensuring that the Federal Government takes into 
account the complete environmental and social costs and 
impacts of emissions through--
(i) existing laws;
(ii) new policies and programs; and
(iii) ensuring that frontline and 
vulnerable communities shall not be adversely 
affected;
(C) providing resources, training, and high-quality 
education, including higher education, to all people of 
the United States, with a focus on frontline and 
vulnerable communities, so that all people of the 
United States may be full and equal participants in the 
Green New Deal mobilization;
(D) making public investments in the research and 
development of new clean and renewable energy 
technologies and industries;
(E) directing investments to spur economic 
development, deepen and diversify industry and business 
in local and regional economies, and build wealth and 
community ownership, while prioritizing high-quality 
job creation and economic, social, and environmental 
benefits in frontline and vulnerable communities, and 
deindustrialized communities, that may otherwise 
struggle with the transition away from greenhouse gas 
intensive industries;
(F) ensuring the use of democratic and 
participatory processes that are inclusive of and led 
by frontline and vulnerable communities and workers to 
plan, implement, and administer the Green New Deal 
mobilization at the local level;
(G) ensuring that the Green New Deal mobilization 
creates high-quality union jobs that pay prevailing 
wages, hires local workers, offers training and 
advancement opportunities, and guarantees direct 
replacement of lost wages, health care, retirement, and 
other benefits for workers affected by the transition;
(H) guaranteeing a job with a family-sustaining 
wage, adequate family and medical leave, paid 
vacations, and retirement security to all people of the 
United States;
(I) strengthening and protecting the right of all 
workers to organize, unionize, and collectively bargain 
free of coercion, intimidation, and harassment;
(J) strengthening and enforcing labor, workplace 
health and safety, antidiscrimination, and wage and 
hour standards across all employers, industries, and 
sectors;
(K) enacting and enforcing trade rules, procurement 
standards, and border adjustments with strong labor and 
environmental protections--
(i) to stop the transfer of jobs and 
pollution overseas; and
(ii) to grow domestic manufacturing in the 
United States;
(L) ensuring that public lands, waters, and oceans 
are protected and that eminent domain is not abused;
(M) obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent 
of indigenous peoples for all decisions that affect 
indigenous peoples and their traditional territories, 
honoring all treaties and agreements with indigenous 
peoples, and protecting and enforcing the sovereignty 
and land rights of indigenous peoples;
(N) ensuring a commercial environment where every 
businessperson is free from unfair competition and 
domination by domestic or international monopolies; and
(O) providing all people of the United States 
with--
(i) high-quality health care;
(ii) affordable, safe, and adequate 
housing;
(iii) economic security; and
(iv) clean water, clean air, healthy and 
affordable food, and access to nature.
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