Sec. 2. Findings and purpose
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Congress finds the following: The 21st century has some of the highest recorded temperatures in known history. Scientists have high confidence that global temperatures will continue to rise for decades to come, largely due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which includes more than 1,300 scientists from the United States and other countries, there will likely be a temperature rise of 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century.
With only around 4.4 percent of the Earth’s population, World Bank studies have found that the United States is the second largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions at 14.6 metric tons of CO 2 per capita. When the world gets hotter, it can fuel the proliferation of drought, typhoons, hurricanes, wildfires, and general habitat change, and can affect the availability of food and water, among other issues. IPCC findings have revealed that the United States is projected to lose more than $500,000,000,000 in annual economic output by the year 2100 from global warming.
Additionally, the IPCC discovered that to avoid the most severe impacts of a changing climate, net-zero global emissions by 2050 will be required. According to the Brookings Institution, a clean economy would encompass a vast array of industries and jobs directly involved in producing goods and providing services with an environmental benefit. Under the 2019 Clean Jobs America report by E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs), it is estimated that 3.26 million workers are currently employed in, or are engaged in closely related activities, to the clean economy.
According to the International Labor Organization, by 2030, it is projected that over 24 million new clean energy jobs will be needed globally to transition to a clean economy. To meet this clean energy agenda, investing in job training will be crucial to ensuring the United States has a readied workforce. The purpose of this Act is to ensure the current United States workforce is prepared to transition to a clean energy economy.