Targeting Environmental and Climate Recklessness Act of 2021
This bill authorizes the President to impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on any foreign person that is responsible for or involved in specified activities that are detrimental to the environment.
Such activities include (1) causing significant excess greenhouse gas emissions associated with power generation; (2) causing significant or illegal deforestation or loss of natural carbon sinks; and (3) knowingly misrepresenting the environmental impact of a project, investment, or product.
The bill further states that it is U.S. policy to consider any act of corruption related to such activities and any violation of internationally recognized human rights committed against specified individuals to be sanctionable.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3245 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3245
To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to significant
actions that exacerbate climate change, to reinforce comprehensive
efforts to limit global average temperature rise, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 14, 2021
Ms. Escobar introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the
Judiciary, Financial Services, Oversight and Reform, and Ways and
Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to significant
actions that exacerbate climate change, to reinforce comprehensive
efforts to limit global average temperature rise, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Targeting Environmental and Climate
Recklessness Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Climate change is imposing significant damage on
communities in the United States and abroad in the form of
severe weather events, wildfires, heat waves, droughts,
flooding, ocean acidification, and other threats to public
health and safety. Scientists expect these effects to grow in
frequency and intensity in the coming decades. Low-income
communities and communities of color bear a disproportionate
impact of climate-related damages.
(2) Collectively, the international community needs to
limit global warming to under 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-
industrial levels in order to avoid the most catastrophic
effects of climate change. Under the current trajectory, the
world will fail to meet this target and will experience warming
that exceeds 3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. In
many regions of the world, warming of average temperatures has
already surpassed 3 degrees Fahrenheit.
(3) To limit global warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius
above pre-industrial levels, the world needs to reach net-zero
global emissions by 2050, which will require making drastic
reforms to global economic systems to mitigate greenhouse gas
emissions, reduce deforestation, reduce dependency on coal,
adapt to unavoidable changes in the climate, and ensure a just
transition.
(4) The goals articulated in the United Nations Paris
Climate Agreement depend on collective action involving the
entire international community. Progress made by one economic
actor can be reduced or cancelled out if another economic actor
emits significant greenhouse gas emissions into the Earth's
atmosphere.
(5) Coal produces the highest intensity of greenhouse gas
emissions of any fuel source. The International Energy Agency
estimates that coal is responsible for nearly \1/3\ of global
warming. The United Nations Secretary General has repeatedly
urged countries to stop financing coal and to pledge not to
build new coal-fired power plants.
(6) Subcritical coal-fired power plants continue to be
developed, especially in Southeast Asia and as part of the Belt
and Road Initiative of the People's Republic of China, despite
broad awareness of the dangers and the growing availability of
economically superior alternatives. Additionally, coal mining
is frequently associated with a wide range of human rights
abuses, such as forced evictions and land grabbing, water and
air pollution, and violations of the rights of indigenous
people and workers.
(7) Alternatives to carbon-intensive electrical power
generation are now available and technological advancements
continue to strengthen the economic competitiveness of such
alternatives.
(8) Internationally, several economic actors continue to
pursue activities, such as development of new subcritical coal-
fired power plants and deforestation that contribute to
dangerous levels of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to
carrying a significant climate risk, many of these activities
are associated with serious human rights abuses, acts of
corruption, and environmental injustice against Indigenous
communities, communities of color, and other communities that
have historically faced marginalization and discrimination.
(9) The United States Government has developed and
implements targeted measures to restrict access to the United
States financial system for specific individuals and entities
whose actions threaten or run counter to United States national
interests. The United States Government has deployed these
measures in response to terrorism, proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction, transnational organized crime, narcotics
trafficking, malicious cyber-enabled activity, wildlife
trafficking, serious human rights abuses, and acts of
corruption. While President Joseph R. Biden has further
centered climate solutions in foreign policy, as of the date of
the enactment of this Act, the United States Government has not
used these measures to target and deter reckless, climate-
destroying behavior.
(10) President Biden has indicated that combating the
climate crisis is a top domestic and foreign policy priority
and has taken steps including the creation of a Special
Presidential Envoy for Climate, collaborating with other
countries to establish worldwide solutions and reduce the
impact of climate change, striving to achieve a net-zero
economy in the United States by 2050, producing a plan to end
international financing for fossil fuel projects, and
emphasizing the need of pursuing an entirely clean energy
economy.
(11) President Biden has made it a priority to counter
environmental injustices in the United States and abroad, and
plans on implementing community-led approaches as well as
Federal protections and regulations that will support those
community members whose land and health have been negatively
impacted by climate change.
(12) The climate crisis has led to a surge of civic
engagement, activism, and protests across the world. At the
same time, reprisals against environmental defenders are on the
rise. Front Line Defenders reported that of the 331 human
rights defenders killed for their work in 2020, 69 percent were
killed for speaking up about Indigenous, land, or environmental
rights. In 2020, Global Witness reported than an average of 4
environmental defenders had been killed every week since the
Paris Climate Agreement was signed in December 2015. Thousands
of other environmental defenders are targeted each year with
reprisals in the form of enforced disappearances, torture,
sexual violence, criminalization, and smear campaigns.
(13) As a result of corruption and illegally issued permits
for forest clearance, only approximately 50 percent of tropical
forest destruction is defined as ``illegal'' under local
country laws. Critically, violations of land rights and the
free, prior, and informed consent and rights of Indigenous
people can be overlooked if the only criterion applied is
legality.
(14) Illegal deforestation is a significant driver of the
destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Criminal networks with
the capacity to coordinate large-scale extraction, processing,
and sale of timber deploy armed personnel to protect their
interests. Those criminal networks regularly attack and
threaten members of Indigenous communities, enforcement
officials, and other environmental defenders. Perpetrators of
such violence are rarely brought to justice.
(15) Policies and measures to address climate change must
also promote human rights, thereby advancing equality, justice,
and dignity for all, in line with the Sustainable Development
Goals of the United Nations.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO ADDRESSING
CLIMATE CHANGE.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the targeted measures described in this Act are only
one component of the comprehensive approach needed to address
climate change and mitigate its effects;
(2) the United States Government must ensure through law
and regulation that entities in the United States are not
engaged in or complicit in any of the egregious behaviors for
which foreign persons may be targeted under this Act;
(3) the United States Government must fulfill its pledges
to the Green Climate Fund and promote international efforts to
support climate change adaptation and mitigation;
(4) the United States Government must work proactively with
foreign governments, including by offering positive incentives,
to address climate change and to promote economic development
in ways that do not needlessly increase carbon emissions or
increase the risk of corruption;
(5) the targeted measures described in this Act should be
employed if engagement has failed to prevent significant
actions that exacerbate climate change; and
(6) given broad international support for countering
climate change, the Secretary of State should encourage the
governments of other countries to implement targeted measures
that are similar to the provisions of this Act, and the
Secretary of the Treasury should support implementation of such
measures, in order to increase the effectiveness of actions
taken by the United States to combat significant actions that
exacerbate climate change, including related corruption and
human rights violations.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF
CHINA.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the United States Government should continue to hold
the People's Republic of China accountable for its human rights
abuses, violations of international law, coercive and unfair
economic practices, and military aggression, and should do so
while also pursuing opportunities to cooperatively address the
existential threat of climate change;
(2) the United States Government should encourage the
People's Republic of China to follow through on its stated
intentions to reduce the negative environmental impacts of
Chinese foreign investment, including investments provided
through the Belt and Road Initiative;
(3) the United States Government should negotiate a binding
agreement to end fossil fuel subsidies with major economies
including the People's Republic of China;
(4) the United States Government should build on the
successes of existing engagement with the People's Republic of
China through the United States-China Clean Energy Research
Center and other initiatives to launch new cooperative efforts;
(5) the United States Government should engage in expanded
dialogue with the People's Republic of China to ensure that
development finance institutions do not undermine global
decarbonization efforts; and
(6) the United States Government should work with the
People's Republic of China to develop and adopt safeguards to
promote low-carbon, climate-resilient investments over high-
carbon, climate risk-inducing investments, particularly in
emerging and developing economies in the Indo-Pacific, Africa,
and Latin America.
SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON APPLICATION OF GLOBAL MAGNITSKY
SANCTIONS TO CLIMATE-LINKED CORRUPTION AND HUMAN RIGHTS
ABUSES.
(a) In General.--It is the policy of the United States to
consider--
(1) any act of corruption related to a covered activity (as
defined in section 6(i)) to be corruption, as that term is used
in Executive Order 13818 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to
blocking the property of persons involved in serious human
rights abuse or corruption); and
(2) any violation of internationally recognized human
rights committed against an individual described in subsection
(b) to be a serious human rights abuse, as that term is used in
Executive Order 13818.
(b) Individuals Described.--An individual described in this
subsection is an individual who--
(1) advocates for the protection of the environment, public
health, Indigenous rights, or community land rights;
(2) investigates, exposes, or raises awareness of harm or
corruption related to natural resource use; or
(3) is obliged to leave the individual's habitual home due,
in whole or in part, to sudden or progressive change in the
environment that adversely affects the individual's life or
living conditions.
SEC. 6. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO SIGNIFICANT ACTIONS
THAT EXACERBATE CLIMATE CHANGE.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
President should employ the authorities provided by this section to
prioritize action against, and deterrence of, egregious behaviors that
undermine efforts to limit the increase in global average temperature
to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
(b) In General.--The President may impose one or more of the
sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to any foreign
person the President determines, based on credible information--
(1) to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have
directly or indirectly engaged in, a covered activity,
including a government official who approves or implements
policies or acts that serve to promote a covered activity;
(2) to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of,
directly or indirectly, any foreign person in a matter relating
to a covered activity, including for or on behalf of a
government official described in paragraph (1);
(3) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided
financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or
services to or in support of, a covered activity; or
(4) to be owned or controlled by a foreign person described
in paragraph (1).
(c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions that may be imposed with
respect to a foreign person under subsection (b) are the following:
(1) Inadmissibility to united states.--In the case of a
foreign person who is an individual--
(A) ineligibility to receive a visa to enter the
United States or to be admitted to the United States;
or
(B) if the individual has been issued a visa or
other documentation, revocation, in accordance with
section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of the visa or other documentation.
(2) Blocking of property.--
(A) In general.--The blocking, in accordance with
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), of all transactions in all
property and interests in property of the foreign
person if such property and interests in property are
in the United States, come within the United States, or
are or come within the possession or control of a
United States person.
(B) Inapplicability of national emergency
requirement.--The requirements of section 202 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.
1701) shall not apply for purposes of this paragraph.
(3) Other sanctions options.--Any of the sanctions
described in section 235 of the Countering America's
Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 9529).
(d) Consideration of Certain Information in Imposing Sanctions.--In
determining whether to impose sanctions under subsection (b), the
President shall consider--
(1) information provided jointly by the chairperson and
ranking member of each of the appropriate congressional
committees; and
(2) credible information obtained by other countries and
nongovernmental organizations that monitor environmental harm
or violations of human rights.
(e) Requests by Appropriate Congressional Committees.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after receiving a
request that meets the requirements of paragraph (2) with
respect to whether a foreign person has engaged in an action
described in subsection (a), the President shall--
(A) determine if that person has engaged in such an
action; and
(B) submit a classified or unclassified report to
the chairperson and ranking member of the committee or
committees that submitted the request with respect to
that determination that includes--
(i) a statement of whether or not the
President imposed or intends to impose
sanctions with respect to the person; and
(ii) if the President imposed or intends to
impose sanctions, a description of those
sanctions.
(2) Requirements.--A request under paragraph (1) with
respect to whether a foreign person has engaged in an action
described in subsection (b) shall be submitted to the President
in writing jointly by the chairperson and ranking member of one
of the appropriate congressional committees.
(f) Exceptions.--
(1) Intelligence and law enforcement activities.--Sanctions
under this section shall not apply with respect to--
(A) any activity subject to the reporting
requirements under title V of the National Security Act
of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.); or
(B) any authorized intelligence or law enforcement
activities of the United States.
(2) Compliance with united nations headquarters
agreement.--This section shall not apply with respect to the
admission of an individual to the United States if the
admission of the individual is necessary to comply with United
States obligations under the Agreement between the United
Nations and the United States of America regarding the
Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June
26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, under the
Convention on Consular Relations, done at Vienna April 24,
1963, and entered into force March 19, 1967, or under other
international obligations of the United States.
(3) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
(A) In general.--The authority to block and
prohibit all transactions in all property and interests
in property under this section shall not include the
authority to impose sanctions on the importation of
goods.
(B) Good defined.--In this paragraph, the term
``good'' means any article, natural or man-made
substance, material, supply or manufactured product,
including inspection and test equipment, and excluding
technical data.
(g) Implementation; Penalties.--
(1) Implementation.--The President may exercise all
authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and
1704) to carry out this section.
(2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this
section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry
out this section shall be subject to the penalties set forth in
subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same
extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in
subsection (a) of that section.
(h) Report Required.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of
Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall submit to
the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes a list
of each activity in a foreign country that--
(1) is initiated or negotiated in the year preceding
submission of the report; and
(2) the Secretary determines is a covered activity,
regardless of whether sanctions have been imposed with respect
to the activity.
(i) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Environment and Public Works
and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
and
(B) the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Carbon sink.--The term ``carbon sink'' means a feature
or process that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it
releases.
(3) Covered activity.--The term ``covered activity'' means
any activity in a foreign country that, on or after the date of
the enactment of this Act--
(A) causes, or is likely to cause, significant
excess greenhouse gas emissions associated with
electrical power generation, including--
(i) construction, importation, or
exportation of subcritical coal-fired power
plants; or
(ii) any action that significantly
undermines, as a result of timing or magnitude,
adoption in the country of high-efficiency,
low-carbon, or renewable energy technology or
infrastructure;
(B) causes, or is likely to cause, significant or
illegal deforestation or loss of natural carbon sinks,
including--
(i) establishment of incentives for, or
promotion of, systematic deforestation;
(ii) engagement in, or failure to combat,
illegal logging, mining, or ranching; or
(iii) unjust actions that limit or
circumvent opposition to deforestation by
individuals seeking to protect the environment,
public health, or community land rights; or
(C) knowingly misrepresents the environmental
impact of a project, investment, or product, including
misrepresenting the amount of greenhouse gas emissions
associated with the project, investment, or product, in
the context of--
(i) assessments conducted by multilateral
organizations, national governments, or
investors; or
(ii) public efforts to gain market
advantage based on purported environmental
advantages of a product.
(4) Deforestation.--The term ``deforestation'' means a loss
of natural forest resulting from the whole or partial
conversion of natural forest to--
(A) agriculture or another non-forest land use; or
(B) a tree plantation.
(5) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'', with respect to
conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has
actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the
circumstance, or the result.
(6) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a
person that is not a United States person.
(7) Subcritical coal-fired power plant.--The term
``subcritical coal-fired power plant'' means a coal-fired power
plant with carbon intensity equal to or greater than 880
kilograms of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour.
(8) United states person.--The term ``United States
person'' means--
(A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence to the United States;
or
(B) an entity organized under the laws of the
United States or of any jurisdiction within the United
States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
SEC. 7. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the
Treasury such sums as may be necessary to support the targeting by the
Office of Foreign Assets Control of persons under this Act and to
enhance the ability of that Office to target persons for the imposition
of sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act
(subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, Oversight and Reform, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, Oversight and Reform, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, Oversight and Reform, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, Oversight and Reform, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, Oversight and Reform, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.