HRES 1245

Whereas the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, with clear direction from Congress through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–161) and the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–8), and established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2009, is the United States most comprehensive and transparent system for tracking greenhouse gas emissions;

Whereas the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program requires the reporting of greenhouse gas data and other relevant information from large greenhouse gas emission sources, fuel and industrial gas suppliers, and carbon dioxide injection sites in the United States;

Whereas the purpose of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is to give public and private sector decision makers transparent and accurate data on the sources, magnitude, and distribution of heat-trapping pollutants in the United States that are driving dangerous climate change across the country and the world;

Whereas the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program captures reporting of about 3,000,000,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from over 8,000 industrial facilities, accounting for about 85 to 90 percent of total United States greenhouse gas emissions;

Whereas large polluting facilities subject to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program emit dangerous copollutants alongside greenhouse gases, including smog-forming compounds, particulates, and air toxics;

Whereas repealing the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program would disproportionately harm Latino, Black, Indigenous, and low-income communities who already live on the frontlines and are most vulnerable and hardest hit from the impacts of climate change;

Whereas more than 1,600,000 Latinos and 1,000,000 Black Americans live within half a mile of oil and gas wells, where exposure to methane and copollutants, such as benzene, formaldehyde, and ethylbenzene, increases the risks of cancer, low birth weight, and impaired lung function;

Whereas Latino children experience 40 percent higher asthma rates than White children, and communities of color breathe 63 percent more air pollution than White communities;

Whereas Indigenous populations face some of the highest per capita health impacts from oil- and gas-related air pollution, alongside Black, Hispanic, and Asian communities;

Whereas Black seniors die from airborne particulate matter related exposure at triple the rate of other racial groups, and, in Cancer Alley, cancer risks from industrial air pollution in Black communities are nearly 50 times the national average;

Whereas environmental justice communities depend on transparent data to understand the sources of pollution affecting their health, advocate for cleaner air, and hold both government and industry accountable;

Whereas global surface temperature has increased faster since 1970 than in any other 50-year period over at least the last 2,000 years, and greenhouse gas emissions from human activity are the primary cause of rising global surface temperature;

Whereas the data collected by the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program are critical for environmental protection through several EPA initiatives, including to inform its regulatory approach for New Source Performance Standards, the development of greenhouse gas Best Available Control Technology determinations, and the Facility Level Information on Greenhouse Gases Tool that allows local communities access to pollution data from nearby facilities;

Whereas the data collected by the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program are critical to the work of other Federal agencies’ initiatives for environmental protection, including the Department of the Treasury’s administration of energy tax credits, and the Department of Energy’s life cycle emissions analysis model called Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies;

Whereas the data collected by the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program are of significant value to the public, for academic institutions to publish research on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, and financial research firms to analyze data to inform summaries and models of risk assessment, sustainability goals, and competitiveness in carbon-sensitive export markets;

Whereas the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program empowers residents and community groups to be fully informed advocates in holding facilities accountable and pushing elected officials to develop strong, protective standards;

Whereas many companies subject to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program will remain obligated to collect greenhouse gas data to fulfill regulatory requirements, including those of local, State, and international regulators;

Whereas any rollback of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program will have States incur additional costs and harm in efforts to combat climate change;

Whereas California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington have incorporated aspects of the Federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program into their own legal frameworks or greenhouse gas reporting programs; and

Whereas the rollback of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program erodes transparency and confidence in government regulations to protect the public from the consequences of climate change and environmental and public health harm: Now, therefore, be it