Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), who serves as Vice Chair of the Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC), introduced a House resolution outlining key findings of the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC) report on the impacts of a warming world and reaffirming the House's recognition and acceptance of these findings.
On October 8th, the IPCC released its report on the consequences of climate change and highlighted the ways in which climate impacts stand to get substantially worse as the planet continues to warm above pre-industrial levels.
"Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with IPCC recommendations is vital in avoiding the worst climate impacts of our generation and generations to come," said Rep. Quigley. "With the new majority in the 116th Congress, House Democrats will ensure that common-sense climate policy is a cornerstone of our legislative agenda as this chamber finally steps up to protect our environment, our economy, and our public health in accordance with science and facts, which illustrate the devastating consequences of a warming world. As Congress returns to Washington today following the midterm elections, and the global community prepares for a vital meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change early next month, this resolution is a firm statement that continued inaction in the face of the climate crisis is morally unacceptable. It is long past time to meet the challenge of greenhouse gas emissions head on."
The report, which has received substantial media coverage, concludes that stunning impacts such as sea-ice free Arctic Summers, substantial sea level rise, mass die offs of coral reefs, and intense and unprecedented heatwaves will become reality as soon as 2040 unless the current path of climate change is slowed.
"The IPCC science report states -- as clearly and emphatically as any report can -- that without extensive action, life as we know it is dramatically at risk from carbon pollution and rising temperatures," said Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who will introduce the companion resolution in the Senate. "There is no part of our nation that won't be seriously impacted by climate chaos. It's time for Congress to embrace the science and recognize that we have no time to waste in transitioning to clean and renewable energy."
In addition, the report finds:
* the last 50-year period in the Northern Hemisphere has the warmest average temperature of any 50-year period in 500 years
* at a 1.5-degree temperature rise, the global population exposed to water stress could be 50 percent lower than if the global temperature rises 2 degrees Celsius;
* amount of people exposed to extreme heat waves rises substantially under a world warmed by 2 degrees Celsius rather than 1.5 degrees Celsius;
* that at current rates of greenhouse gas emissions Earth will warm by 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by 2040
The House resolution is endorsed by the Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association, Union of Concerned Scientists, and is cosponsored by Reps. Matsui, Tonko, Connolly, Polis, Pingree, Cartwright, Lowenthal, Huffman, Barragan, McNerney, Kilmer, Thompson, Maloney, Welch, Engel, DeSaulnier, Bonamici, Kaptur, Watson Coleman, Khanna, Beyer, Grijalva, Langevin, Schakowsky, Wasserman Schultz, Dingell, Carbajal, Lipinski, Moulton, Lujan, Davis, McGovern, McCollum, Price, Lee, Krishnamoorthi, Velazquez, Pocan, McEachin, Pallone, Cleaver, Adams, Roybal-Allard, Panetta, Smith, DeGette, Shea Porter, Meng, Rush, Higgins, Soto, Hastings, Espaillat, Sires, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Garamendi, Peters, Blumenauer, Hanabusa, Gabbard, Eshoo, Chu, Raskin, Kildee, Castor, Gallego, Lawrence, DeLauro, Schiff, Jayapal, Sewell, Tsongas, Ryan, Nolan, DelBene, "Hank" Johnson, Ruppersberger, Frankel, Nadler, Lofgren, Boyle, Larsen, Evans, and Norton.