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HRES 735 IH

Congratulating Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on receiving the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize and recognizing their important work to increase awareness about and evidence of the dangers of global warming.

October 12, 2007

Mr. HONDA (for himself, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Ms. HOOLEY, Mr. FARR, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. LEE, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. ROTHMAN, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HOLT, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, and Ms. WOOLSEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

Congratulating Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on receiving the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize and recognizing their important work to increase awareness about and evidence of the dangers of global warming.

Whereas the Nobel Prize is a prestigious international award that has been administered annually since 1901 by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden, and recognizes the world's most outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace;

Whereas the Norwegian Nobel Committee, who selects the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, only receives nominations by invitation from qualified nominators;

Whereas the Norwegian Nobel Committee received 181 nominations for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize;

Whereas the Norwegian Nobel Committee selected Vice President Albert Arnold (Al) Gore, Jr., and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as joint Nobel Peace Laureates for 2007, recognizing them `for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change';

Whereas Vice President Gore's work on global warming was recently documented in the Academy Award-winning film, `An Inconvenient Truth';

Whereas the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, composed of thousands of scientists and officials from more than 100 countries, has collaborated to achieve greater certainty as to the scale of global warming;

Whereas the Earth's climate is changing, warming by 1.1 to 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit since the Industrial Revolution;

Whereas over the past 150 years, measured carbon dioxide concentrations have risen by more than one-third;

Whereas the international scientific consensus is that global warming is caused by increased greenhouse gas emissions due to human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels;

Whereas the United States contributes almost one-fifth of net global greenhouse gas emissions;

Whereas global temperatures are likely to increase by 2 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit between 1990 and 2100, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;

Whereas during the 20th century, glaciers and ice caps have experienced widespread losses of mass, contributing to rising sea levels;

Whereas higher incidences of drought and increased severe weather events result from rising temperatures;

Whereas according to the United Nations Environment Program Report, climate change is one of the key factors in the civil unrest leading to the mass death, destruction, and displacement of the people of Sudan;

Whereas extensive climate change will continue to cause large-scale migration and will contribute to the increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, both within and between states, around the world;

Whereas poorer nations and the most vulnerable communities will bear the greatest burden of the effects of global warming as increasing temperatures and rising sea levels threaten food security, induce increased competition for resources, and cause significant migrations;

Whereas Vice President Gore has been a leader in generating international interest in exploring the causes, potential consequences, and solutions for the climate change crisis;

Whereas the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is credited with creating an increasingly informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming;

Whereas the Norwegian Nobel Committee stated that Vice President Gore `is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted' to combat global warming; and

Whereas the work of both Vice President Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has challenged the public to take individual and collective action to address the threat of climate change: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) congratulates Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for receiving the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize;

(2) commends the Norwegian Nobel Committee for selecting Vice President Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for such prize;

(3) recognizes Vice President Gore's important work to increase awareness about the dangers of global warming;

(4) recognizes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's important work to create an informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming;

(5) recommends that the public takes individual and collective action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to address global warming; and

(6) encourages this Congress and the President to enact important climate change legislation to substantially reduce the contributions of the United States to global greenhouse gas emissions.