WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and a senior Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, U.S. Representative John K. Delaney (Md.-06), and 145 of their Democratic colleagues from the Senate and House sent a letter to President Obama today in strong support of the United States signing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement.

 

Secretary of State John Kerry will represent the United States at the UN in New York Friday, where he will officially sign the Agreement along with more than one hundred other nations. Under President Obama’s leadership and with the strong support of Congressional Democrats, the United States rallied world leaders in support of the Paris Agreement last December.

 

The letter states in part, “For years, the world has looked to the United States for international leadership and addressing climate change is no different. Through your leadership, the United States is fulfilling a responsibility to lead international action addressing climate change resulting in unprecedented cooperation on the development of the historic Paris Agreement. Your decision to make the United States one of the first parties to sign the agreement is a further demonstration of U.S. leadership and is an important step towards ensuring the Paris Agreement is implemented quickly and that the global community begins in earnest towards achieving the significant goals of the agreement.”

 

“I thank President Obama for his strong leadership which has led us to this historic signing. Now it is time to implement the Agreement and act on behalf of future generations so that they are not devastated by the impacts of global climate change,” Senator Cardin said. “As a lawmaker from a state deeply susceptible to rising sea levels, I am committed to doing all I can to ensure the United States fulfills its obligations and serves as an example to every nation on earth of what is possible when we put our science, leadership, and ingenuity to work on behalf of humanity.”

 

“Climate Change poses a huge risk to our environment, our economy, and our national security.  At the same time, the United States has an opportunity to greatly benefit from the transition to a clean energy economy,” said Congressman Delaney.  “This climate agreement between 195 countries is a historic occasion.  We all have to act together to solve the problem.  I thank President Obama for his leadership, and will continue to work with Senator Cardin in Congress to accelerate our transition to clean energy.”

 

In total, 33 Senators and 114 Representatives signed onto the letter. The full text of the letter with the list of signers is below.

 

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The Honorable Barack Obama

President of the United States of America

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 205000

 

April 21, 2016

 

Dear Mr. President:

 

We write in strong support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Paris Agreement calling for global cooperation on addressing the causes and effects of climate change. We fully support the United States’ decision to sign the agreement on the first day it will be open for signature, April 22, 2016, and we hope that other nations will follow our lead. For years, the world has looked to the United States for international leadership and addressing climate change is no different. Through your leadership, the United States is fulfilling a responsibility to lead international action addressing climate change resulting in unprecedented cooperation on the development of the historic Paris Agreement. Your decision to make the United States one of the first parties to sign the agreement is a further demonstration of U.S. leadership and is an important step towards ensuring the Paris Agreement is implemented quickly and that the global community begins in earnest towards achieving the significant goals of the agreement.

 

No country is insulated from the increasingly present and escalating effects of climate change. The United States faces numerous challenges: prolonged droughts that affect our food security and water supplies, sea-level rise that threatens millions of Americans residing near our coasts, and expanded range of wildfires and prolonged wildfire seasons are just a few examples. These threats affect the U.S. economy, public health, and national security. Investments to improve the resiliency of our communities at all levels are critically important to our ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change and thrive.

 

Mitigation of climate change is a national priority that requires national policies to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, like producing significantly more energy from clean and carbon-free sources as a means of achieving the pollution reduction pledge the U.S. made ahead of COP21. Increased investment and deployment of clean energy is sound strategy for reducing carbon pollution that will spur tremendous domestic job growth and expand the U.S. economy

 

The United States must also be responsive to climate change’s impact on our allies in the world’s least developed and most vulnerable countries. Defense and national security experts refer to climate change as a “threat multiplier” because of its effects on the safety, stability, and security of many at-risk nations ultimately impacts U.S. security interests. Continued U.S. climate diplomacy and international engagement with our allies, and the most vulnerable nations, will go a long way towards not only saving lives but also preserving global security in the face of uncertain changes in the global environment.

 

The world must work together to ensure that the goals of the Paris Agreement are realized. U.S. commitment to leadership in this arena has helped start a process that must last beyond your presidency. We are both hopeful that this historic agreement will achieve its monumental goals and stand ready to assist with delivering the United States’ lasting commitments to make the agreement a success – for our children, our grandchildren and future generations to come.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Senators:

 

Ben Cardin

Richard Blumenthal

Cory Booker

Barbara Boxer

Dianne Feinstein

Al Franken

Kirsten E. Gillibrand

Martin Heinrich

Tim Kaine

Amy Klobuchar

Edward J. Markey

Jeffrey A. Merkley

Christopher S. Murphy

Brian Schatz

Tom Udall

Richard J. Durbin

Barbara A. Mikulski

Debbie Stabenow

Gary C. Peters

Mazie K. Hirono

Charles E. Schumer

Christopher A. Coons

Ron Wyden

Thomas R. Carper

Sherrod Brown

Tammy Baldwin

Elizabeth Warren

Sheldon Whitehouse

Patrick J. Leahy

Robert Menendez

Michael F. Bennet

Jack Reed

Jeanne Shaheen

 

Members of Congress:

 

John K. Delaney

Scott Peters

Alan Lowenthal

Jared Huffman

Eliot L. Engel

Gerry Connolly

Eleanor Holmes Norton

Adam Smith

Paul Tonko

Mike Honda

Derek Kilmer

Donna F. Edwards

Mike Quigley

Grace Meng

Rick Larsen

Bobby Rush

Peter DeFazio

Alcee L. Hastings

Theodore E. Deutch

Adam Schiff

Alan Grayson

Corrine Brown

Jim McDermott

Andre Carson

Luis V. Gutierrez

Niki Tsongas

Peter Welch

Doris Matsui

Kieth Ellison

Sam Farr

John Carney

Jared Polis

Kathy Castor

Mark Pocan

José E. Serrano

Eric Swalwell

Matt Cartwright

Ted Lieu

Lois Capps

Yvette D. Clarke

Barbara Lee

Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Earl Blumenauer

Seth Moulton

Denny Heck

Suzanne Bonamici

James P. McGovern

Kathleen M. Rice

Jackie Speier

Zoe Lofgren

Mark Takai

Don Beyer

Chris Van Hollen

Steve Israel

Grace F. Napolitano

John P. Sarbanes

Anna G. Eshoo

Jerrold Nadler

Charles B. Rangel

Katherine Clark

Steve Cohen

Bill Foster

Betty McCollum

Patrick E. Murphy

Susan Davis

David Price

Eddie Bernice Johnson

Janice Hahn

Frederica S. Wilson

Chaka Fattah

Mark DeSaulnier

Lucille Roybal-Allard

Brenda L. Lawrence

Michael E. Capuano

Henry C. “Hank” Johnson

Joe Courtney

Mike Thompson

James R. Langevin

Bill Keating

Juan Vargas

Linda T. Sanchez

Elizabeth H. Esty

Julia Brownley

John Conyers

Jim Himes

Beto O’Rourke

Emanuel Cleaver

Joe Crowley

John Lewis

Louise M. Slaughter

Judy Chu

Rosa DeLauro

Ed Perlmutter

John Yarmuth

Suzan DelBene

Dutch Ruppersberger

Frank Pallone, Jr.

Brian Higgins

Jan Schakowsky

Joseph P. Kennedy, III

Ami Bera

David N. Cicilline

Tony Cardenas

Robert C. “Bobby” Scott

Carolyn B. Maloney

Jerry McNerney

Sheila Jackson Lee

Dan Kildee

Ben Ray Lujan

Maxine Waters

John Garamendi

Richard E. Neal

Ron Kind

Lois Frankel