Before the Flood Environmental Justice and Climate Change Film Review Topic: Environmental Justice and Climate Change Required Reading: Green New Deal Re
Before the Flood Environmental Justice and Climate Change Film Review Topic: Environmental Justice and Climate Change
Required Reading:
Green New Deal Resolution
A New Climate for Climate by Justin Worland (Time Magazine, April 1, 2019)
Movie: Before the Flood
Question:
Nearly 70% of Americans believe that climate change is taking place throughout the world. While most Americans believe that climate change depends on making deep structural changes to the worlds economies such as ending fossil fuel extraction people can accelerate the process in their own lives. Assess the New Green Deal and the balance between the role that average people can play and the macro-structural trends that impact climate change. Despite scientific evidence, not everyone believes in climate change. Why is that the case? Scanned with CamScanner
Scanned with CamScanner
Scanned with CamScanner
Scanned with CamScanner
IV
116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 109
Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New
Deal.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
FEBRUARY 7, 2019
Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ (for herself, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. SERRANO,
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. ESPAILLAT,
Mr. LYNCH, Ms. VELA?ZQUEZ, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRENDAN F.
BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. CLARKE of New
York, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms.
PRESSLEY, Mr. WELCH, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. NADLER, Mr.
MCGOVERN, Mr. POCAN, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RASKIN, Mr.
CONNOLLY, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. THOMPSON of California,
Mr. LEVIN of California, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. HUFFMAN,
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. GARCI?A of Illinois, Mr. HIGGINS of New
York, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. MENG, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr.
COHEN, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms.
MUCARSEL-POWELL, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MEEKS, Mr.
SABLAN, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. SEAN PATRICK
MALONEY of New York, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. LEVIN
of Michigan, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr.
LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. KEATING, Mr.
DEFAZIO, Ms. ESHOO, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. KENNEDY, and
Ms. WATERS) 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 Labor, Transportation and Infrastructure, Agriculture, Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Oversight
and Reform, 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
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
2
RESOLUTION
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
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 oC 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 above 2 degrees Celsius beyond preindustrialized levels will cause
(A) mass migration from the 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 more 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 $1,000,000,000,000 of
public infrastructure and coastal real estate in the
United States; and
HRES 109 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
3
(4) global temperatures must be kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrialized levels to avoid the
most severe impacts of a changing climate, which will require
(A) global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from human sources of 40 to 60 percent from
2010 levels by 2030; and
(B) net-zero global emissions by 2050;
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
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
(A) hourly wages overall stagnating since the
1970s despite increased worker productivity;
(B) the third-worst level of socioeconomic mobility in the developed world before the Great Recession;
(C) the erosion of the earning and bargaining
power of workers in the United States; and
HRES 109 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
4
(D) inadequate resources for public sector
workers to confront the challenges of climate change
at local, State, and Federal levels; and
(3) the greatest income inequality since the 1920s,
with
(A) the top 1 percent of earners accruing 91
percent of gains in the first few years of economic
recovery after the Great Recession;
(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
(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);
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
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
HRES 109 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
5
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
1
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
2 resentatives that
3
4
(1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to
create a Green New Deal
5
(A) to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas
6
emissions through a fair and just transition for
7
all communities and workers;
8
(B) to create millions of good, high-wage
9
jobs and ensure prosperity and economic secu-
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
10
rity for all people of the United States;
11
(C) to invest in the infrastructure and in-
12
dustry of the United States to sustainably meet
13
the challenges of the 21st century;
HRES 109 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
6
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
1
(D) to secure for all people of the United
2
States for generations to come
3
(i) clean air and water;
4
(ii) climate and community resiliency;
5
(iii) healthy food;
6
(iv) access to nature; and
7
(v) a sustainable environment; and
8
(E) to promote justice and equity by stop-
9
ping current, preventing future, and repairing
10
historic oppression of indigenous peoples, com-
11
munities
12
deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural
13
communities, the poor, low-income workers,
14
women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with
15
disabilities, and youth (referred to in this reso-
16
lution as frontline and vulnerable commu-
17
nities);
18
(2) the goals described in subparagraphs (A)
19
through (E) of paragraph (1) (referred to in this
20
resolution as the Green New Deal goals) should
21
be accomplished through a 10-year national mobili-
22
zation (referred to in this resolution as the Green
23
New Deal mobilization) that will require the fol-
24
lowing goals and projects
of
color,
migrant
communities,
HRES 109 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
7
1
(A) building resiliency against climate
2
change-related
3
weather, including by leveraging funding and
4
providing investments for community-defined
5
projects and strategies;
6
such
as
structure in the United States, including
8
(i) by eliminating pollution and green-
9
house gas emissions as much as techno-
10
logically feasible;
11
(ii) by guaranteeing universal access
12
to clean water;
13
(iii) by reducing the risks posed by cli-
14
mate impacts; and
15
(iv) by ensuring that any infrastruc-
16
ture bill considered by Congress addresses
17
climate change;
18
(C) meeting 100 percent of the power de-
19
mand in the United States through clean, re-
20
newable, and zero-emission energy sources, in-
21
cluding
22
(i) by dramatically expanding and up-
23
grading renewable power sources; and
24
(ii) by deploying new capacity;
HRES 109 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014
extreme
(B) repairing and upgrading the infra-
7
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
disasters,
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
8
1
(D) building or upgrading to energy-effi-
2
cient, distributed, and smart power grids,
3
and ensuring affordable access to electricity;
4
(E) upgrading all existing buildings in the
5
United States and building new buildings to
6
achieve maximum energy efficiency, water effi-
7
ciency, safety, affordability, comfort, and dura-
8
bility, including through electrification;
9
(F) spurring massive growth in clean man-
10
ufacturing in the United States and removing
11
pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from
12
manufacturing and industry as much as is tech-
13
nologically feasible, including by expanding re-
14
newable energy manufacturing and investing in
15
existing manufacturing and industry;
16
(G) working collaboratively with farmers
17
and ranchers in the United States to remove
18
pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from
19
the agricultural sector as much as is techno-
20
logically feasible, including
21
(i) by supporting family farming;
22
(ii) by investing in sustainable farm-
23
ing and land use practices that increase
24
soil health; and
HRES 109 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
9
1
(iii) by building a more sustainable
2
food system that ensures universal access
3
to healthy food;
4
(H) overhauling transportation systems in
5
the United States to remove pollution and
6
greenhouse gas emissions from the transpor-
7
tation sector as much as is technologically fea-
8
sible, including through investment in
9
(i) zero-emission vehicle infrastructure
10
and manufacturing;
11
(ii) clean, affordable, and accessible
12
public transit; and
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
13
(iii) high-speed rail;
14
(I) mitigating and managing the long-term
15
adverse health, economic, and other effects of
16
pollution and climate change, including by pro-
17
viding funding for community-defined projects
18
and strategies;
19
(J) removing greenhouse gases from the
20
atmosphere and reducing pollution by restoring
21
natural ecosystems through proven low-tech so-
22
lutions that increase soil carbon storage, such
23
as land preservation and afforestation;
24
(K) restoring and protecting threatened,
25
endangered, and fragile ecosystems through lo-
HRES 109 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
10
1
cally appropriate and science-based projects
2
that enhance biodiversity and support climate
3
resiliency;
4
(L) cleaning up existing hazardous waste
5
and abandoned sites, ensuring economic devel-
6
opment and sustainability on those sites;
7
(M) identifying other emission and pollu-
8
tion sources and creating solutions to remove
9
them; and
10
(N) promoting the international exchange
11
of technology, expertise, products, funding, and
12
services, with the aim of making the United
13
States the international leader on climate ac-
14
tion, and to help other countries achieve a
15
Green New Deal;
16
(3) a Green New Deal must be developed
17
through transparent and inclusive consultation, col-
18
laboration, and partnership with frontline and vul-
19
nerable communities, labor unions, worker coopera-
20
tives, civil society groups, academia, and businesses;
21
and
22
(4) to achieve the Green New Deal goals and
23
mobilization, a Green New Deal will require the fol-
24
lowing goals and projects
HRES 109 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
11
1
(A) providing and leveraging, in a way that
2
ensures that the public receives appropriate
3
ownership stakes and returns on investment,
4
adequate capital (including through community
5
grants, public banks, and other public financ-
6
ing), technical expertise, supporting policies,
7
and other forms of assistance to communities,
8
organizations, Federal, State, and local govern-
9
ment agencies, and businesses working on the
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
10
Green New Deal mobilization;
11
(B) ensuring that the Federal Government
12
takes into account the complete environmental
13
and social costs and impacts of emissions
14
through
15
(i) existing laws;
16
(ii) new policies and programs; and
17
(iii) ensuring that frontline and vul-
18
nerable communities shall not be adversely
19
affected;
20
(C) providing resources, training, and
21
high-quality education, including higher edu-
22
cation, to all people of the United States, with
23
a focus on frontline and vulnerable commu-
24
nities, so that all people of the United States
HRES 109 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
12
1
may be full and equal participants in the Green
2
New Deal mobilization;
3
(D) making public investments in the re-
4
search and development of new clean and re-
5
newable energy technologies and industries;
6
(E) directing investments to spur economic
7
development, deepen and diversify industry and
8
business in local and regional economies, and
9
build wealth and community ownership, while
10
prioritizing high-quality job creation and eco-
11
nomic, social, and environmental benefits in
12
frontline and vulnerable communities, and
13
deindustrialized communities, that may other-
14
wise struggle with the transition away from
15
greenhouse gas intensive industries;
16
(F) ensuring the use of democratic and
17
participatory processes that are inclusive of and
18
led by frontline and vulnerable communities and
19
workers to plan, implement, and administer the
20
Green New Deal mobilization at the local level;
21
(G) ensuring that the Green New Deal mo-
22
bilization creates high-quality union jobs that
23
pay prevailing wages, hires local workers, offers
24
training and advancement opportunities, and
HRES 109 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
13
1
guarantees wage and benefit parity for workers
2
affected by the transition;
3
(H) guaranteeing a job with a family-sus-
4
taining wage, adequate family and medical
5
leave, paid vacations, and retirement security to
6
all people of the United States;
7
(I) strengthening and protecting the right
8
of all workers to organize, unionize, and collec-
9
tively bargain free of coercion, intimidation, and
10
harassment;
11
(J) strengthening and enforcing labor,
12
workplace health and safety, antidiscrimination,
13
and wage and hour standards across all employ-
14
ers, industries, and sectors;
15
(K) enacting and enforcing trade rules,
16
procurement standards, and border adjustments
17
with strong labor and environmental protec-
18
tions
19
(i) to stop the transfer of jobs and
20
pollution overseas; and
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
21
(ii) to grow domestic manufacturing
22
in the United States;
23
(L) ensuring that public lands, waters, and
24
oceans are protected and that eminent domain
25
is not abused;
HRES 109 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
14
1
(M) obtaining the free, prior, and informed
2
consent of indigenous peoples for all decisions
3
that affect indigenous peoples and their tradi-
4
tional territories, honoring all treaties and
5
agreements with indigenous peoples, and pro-
6
tecting and enforcing the sovereignty and land
7
rights of indigenous peoples;
8
(N) ensuring a commercial environment
9
where every businessperson is free from unfair
10
competition and domination by domestic or
11
international monopolies; and
12
(O) providing all people of the United
13
States with
14
(i) high-quality health care;
15
(ii) affordable, safe, and adequate
16
housing;
17
(iii) economic security; and
18
(iv) clean water, clean air, healthy and
19
affordable food, and access to nature.
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
Æ
HRES 109 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:08 Feb 08, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:BILLSHR109.IH
HR109
Purchase answer to see full
attachment
