Bill Text: HI HCR161 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Affirming That The Continued Participation Of The United States In The Paris Agreement Is Of Paramount Importance To The State Of Hawaii And To The Nation, Requesting The President Of The United States To Refrain From Withdrawing The United States From The Paris Agreement, And Requesting That The Majority Leader Of The United States Senate And The Speaker Of The United States House Of Representatives Take All Action Necessary To Block The President's Withdrawal Of The United States From The Paris Agreement.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 17-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-11 - Referred to JUD, referral sheet 40 [HCR161 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2020-HCR161-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
161 |
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THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
affirming that the continued participation of the united states in the paris agreement is of paramount importance to the state of hawaii and to the nation, requesting the president of the united states to REFRAIN from withdrawing THE UNITED sTATES FROM the paris agreement, and requesting that the majority leader of the United states senate and the speaker of the united states house of representatives take all action NECESSARY to block the president's withdrawal of the united states from the paris agreement.
WHEREAS, in December 2015, representatives of one hundred ninety-seven nations who are parties to the United Nation's Framework Convention on Climate Change (Convention) completed a proposed agreement, known as the Paris Agreement, to take comprehensive action to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with the following principal provisions:
(1) Long-term temperature goal: the agreement reaffirms the goal of limiting global mean temperature increase to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius;
(2) Global peaking and "climate neutrality": to achieve the temperature goal, parties will strive to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, recognizing peaking will take longer for developing country parties, so as to achieve a balance (net zero emissions) between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of the century;
(3) Mitigation: the agreement establishes binding commitments by all parties to prepare, communicate, and maintain a nationally determined contribution; to pursue domestic measures to achieve them; and to communicate revised, higher nationally determined contributions every five years;
(4) Adaptation: the agreement establishes a global goal for adaptation, including enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change in the context of the temperature goal; and
(5) Financial support: the Paris Agreement reaffirms the obligations of developed countries to support the efforts of developing country parties to build clean, climate resilient futures, while for the first time encouraging voluntary contributions by other parties; and
WHEREAS, on November 4, 2016, the Paris Agreement took effect, after having been ratified by at least fifty-five parties to the Convention, including the United States, accounting in total for at least an estimated fifty-five percent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. As of 2020, one hundred eighty-nine of the nations who are parties to the Convention have ratified the Paris Agreement; and
WHEREAS, in 2017, the Hawaii State Legislature enacted Act 32, Session Laws 2017, which among other things created the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission and committed the State to contribute to the achievement of the Paris Agreement goals; and
WHEREAS, in June, 2017, President Donald Trump announced his intention for the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement; and on November 4, 2019, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo gave notice to the Convention of the intent of the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, with the withdrawal to become effective on November 4, 2020 (the day after the 2020 presidential election); and
WHEREAS, a U.S. withdrawal is likely to have a serious detrimental impact on the future implementation of the Paris Agreement, which relies on the voluntary commitments of its member nations; and under the approach, as taken by the Paris Agreement, major developing nations, such as China - the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter - and India, were induced for the first time to make commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The prospective withdrawal of the United States, the world's second largest emitter, threatens to reverse the initial momentum under the Paris Agreement and to embolden other nations to renounce or delay their own commitments; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2020, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature affirms that the continued participation of the United States in the Paris Agreement is of paramount importance to the State of Hawaii, to the nation, and the world; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the President of the United States shall be respectfully requested, through the transmittal of a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution, to refrain from withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and to instead commit the United States to good faith efforts to meet its obligations under the Paris Agreement; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate and the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives be requested, through the transmittal of a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution, to take all action necessary to block the President's intended withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Office of the President of the United States, the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Congressional Delegation of the State of Hawaii, the Governor, and each member of the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Paris Agreement; Climate Change
