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90_HR0049
LRB9003922DPcc
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The United States is a signatory to the 1992 Rio
3 Framework Convention on Global Climate Change ("Convention")
4 and is participating in international negotiations pursuant
5 to a United Nations agreement negotiated in Berlin in 1995
6 ("Berlin Mandate") to expand the scope of the Convention; and
7 WHEREAS, The Berlin Mandate requires the United States
8 and other advanced industrial nations ("Annex I Parties") to
9 negotiate legally binding quantified emission limitation and
10 reduction objectives for greenhouse gases for the post-2000
11 period without increasing the responsibilities of non-Annex I
12 developing counties; and
13 WHEREAS, The United States and other Annex I Parties to
14 the Convention have committed to reduce emissions of
15 greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide to 1990 levels by the
16 year 2000; and
17 WHEREAS, Manmade emissions of greenhouse gases are caused
18 primarily by the combustion of oil, coal, and natural gas
19 fuels by industries, automobiles, and other consumptive uses
20 of energy; and
21 WHEREAS, The United States relies on fossil fuels for
22 more than 90% of its total energy supply and has among the
23 lowest energy prices among all industrial nations; and
24 WHEREAS, The United States is not likely to meet its
25 emission reduction target by the year 2000 due to economic
26 and population growth, notwithstanding the development of
27 numerous energy conservation and efficiency programs
28 implemented by government and industry; and
29 WHEREAS, Developing countries exempt from the Berlin
30 Mandate are expected to increase their rates of economic
31 growth and fossil fuel use over the next 2 decades and to
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1 surpass the United States and other Annex I Parties in total
2 emissions of greenhouse gases; and
3 WHEREAS, The imposition of legally binding requirements
4 for the reduction of greenhouse gases by the United States
5 and other Annex I Parties would entail fundamental changes in
6 our patterns of energy production, consumption, and prices
7 with potentially severe adverse implications for workers,
8 consumers, and industries dependent upon the production or
9 use of fossil fuels; and
10 WHEREAS, The exemption in the Berlin Mandate for emission
11 control obligations by developing counties could create an
12 unfair competitive imbalance between industrial and
13 developing nations to the detriment of job growth and
14 economic development in the United States; and
15 WHEREAS, The Berlin Mandate could lead to the transfer of
16 energy-intensive industries overseas and increased emissions
17 of greenhouse gases by developing nations, thereby offsetting
18 any environmental benefits associated with reductions
19 achieved by the United States and other Annex I Parties; and
20 WHEREAS, Emission reductions by Annex I Parties alone
21 cannot meaningfully change future concentrations of
22 atmospheric greenhouse gases or avert the risk of
23 environmental damage from climate change without global
24 participation in the Convention; and
25 WHEREAS, The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions can be
26 achieved most cost-effectively by the gradual retirement and
27 replacement of existing buildings, appliances, industrial
28 plants, equipment, and vehicles with more energy-efficient
29 alternatives; therefore be it
30 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
31 NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
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1 this Body calls upon the President of the United State not to
2 enter into any legally-binding commitments pursuant to the
3 Berlin Mandate that could lead to the loss of jobs, income,
4 or economic development in the United States without definite
5 commitments by developing nations to participate in future
6 global greenhouse emission reduction efforts; and be it
7 further
8 RESOLVED, That this Body calls upon the President of the
9 United States to renegotiate the Berlin Mandate or to take
10 other appropriate steps to ensure that all nations have made
11 equal commitments to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases,
12 and to provide a timetable for emission reduction by Annex I
13 Parties consistent with the orderly retirement and
14 replacement of existing capital stock and equipment; and be
15 it further
16 RESOLVED, That this Body calls upon the United States
17 Senate to reject any proposed protocol or other amendment to
18 the Convention that is inconsistent with this resolution or
19 that does not ensure that at least 75% of the signatory
20 parties to the Convention, as measured by their 1995
21 populations, would be legally bound by the terms of an
22 emission reduction program undertaken pursuant to the
23 proposed protocol or other amendment; and be it further
24 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
25 forwarded to the President of the United States, the Majority
26 Leader of the United States Senate, and the Illinois
27 Senatorial delegation.