No Impact Man writes a climate bill for the House of Representatives

OK. Not really. Or maybe I am. Who knows what will happen? But I've had enough interest from bloggers and other people for the "sense of the House" resolution I asked Congressman Nadler to introduce (see here and here) to take it a little further. If you haven't been following, the idea is to establish an atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide of no more than 350 PPM as the United States' policy goal (see why here and here).

I've decided to produce a working draft of the legislation that I propose should be introduced into the House of Representatives. Four points:

1. A "sense of the House" resolution is non-binding legislation that expresses, well, the sense of the House. All the same, I think such a resolution calling for 350 PPM would form a good compass point for other legislation.
2. I'd love for someone to advocate for a piece of concurrent legislation in the Senate. Anyone want to write that and post it and beginning looking for a senator to sponsor it?
3. If you feel like advocating for this bill with your Congressional representative, please let me know.
4. I am accepting friendly amendments and corrections! Please leave them in the comments.

Here goes nothing:

110th Congress

2nd Session

H.Res. [number to be determined]

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that United States and international climate change policy must aim within ten years to begin to stabilize atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide at no more than 350 PPM or better, depending on advancing science, in order to ensure a global-warming-induced temperature rise of no more than 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above the earth's pre-industrial average temperature.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

[Date to be determined but ASAP]

[Names of sponsoring members to be determined] submitted the following resolution which was referred to the [committee to be determined].

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that United States and international climate change policy must aim within ten years to begin to stabilize atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide at no more than 350 PPM or better, depending on advancing science, in order to ensure a global-warming-induced temperature rise of no more than 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above the earth's pre-industrial average temperature.

Whereas it is beyond reasonable scientific doubt that increasing human-induced emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases cause the average temperature of the planet to rise;

Whereas the best estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and many other international, national, governmental and nongovernmental institutions conclude that irreversible changes to the planet will occur if this temperature rise is larger than a maximum of 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius;

Whereas a consensus of the world's scientific community concludes that a temperature rise above 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius would cause immense suffering for the populations of the world in general and of the United States in particular;

Whereas Sir Nicholas Stern, head of the United Kingdom's Government Economic Service and Adviser to the UK Government on the economics of climate change and development, has concluded that action to avoid irreversible global warming would cost 1% of planetary GDP but action to mitigate the effects of irreversible climate change if allowed to occur would cost 20 to 40% of planetary GDP;

Whereas, in the case of climate change, policy must be determined not by that which is considered politically possible but by that which is scientifically necessary;

Whereas climate change policy needs a basic science "compass point" against which more elaborate climate change legislation may be measured;

Whereas the maximum allowable atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide provides such a basic science compass point;

Whereas James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a number of other senior American climate scientists have concluded that a prolonged atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide at above 350 PPM will bring irreversible global warming and that a reversal of current trends is necessary within ten years;

Whereas evidence is mounting to confirm Hansen's conclusions;

Whereas atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide already stands at 387 PPM and therefore must be urgently addressed and reduced;

Whereas climate science is progressing and policy must be able to adapt should the 350 "compass point" change;

Whereas international negotiations on the successor treaty to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCC) Kyoto Protocol have already begun and must be completed by 2012;

Whereas the standards decided upon in this treaty will depend upon the United States' leadership, and the United States must therefore lead the international community to adopt the compass point of 350 PPM atmospheric carbon dioxide;

Whereas climate change is the greatest policy challenge humanity and the United States Government has ever faced and it must rise to this emergency:

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--

(1) United States and international climate change policy must aim to begin within ten years to stabilize atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide at no more than 350 PPM or better;

(2) Policy frameworks must be flexible enough to adjust should advancing science suggest a change in the 350 PPM compass point; and

(3) The United States must lead the international community towards substantive action on the goal of 350 PPM atmospheric carbon dioxide within ten years in the current UN Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations.