STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR
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JOINT RESOLUTION AFFIRMING THE LEGISLATURE'S
ONGOING COMMITMENT TO THE GOALS OF THE PARIS
CLIMATE AGREEMENT AND SUPPORT OF THE FOSSIL FUEL
NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY
WHEREAS, the scientific consensus is clear that human activities are primarily
responsible for accelerating global climate change and that the climate crisis now represents
one of the preeminent threats to global civilization; and
WHEREAS, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, reported in 2018
that we must achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions, or GHGs, by the middle of this century
in order to have a reasonable chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius; and
WHEREAS, the IPCC released its Sixth Assessment Report from Working Group II,
which was approved by 195 member states, in February 2022, which notes that there is high
confidence that "the rise in weather and climate extremes has led to some irreversible impacts
as natural and human systems are pushed beyond their ability to adapt"; and
WHEREAS, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called the
Working Group II report "an atlas of human suffering... according to current commitment,
global emissions are set to increase almost 14 percent... It will destroy any chance of keeping
1.5 alive... coal and other fossil fuels are choking humanity"; and
WHEREAS, changes to the State's climate are already being felt, including such impacts
as rising seas, an increased number of high heat days, increasingly frequent high intensity rain
events and dramatic ocean heat waves in the Gulf of Maine that threaten natural ecosystems
and the maritime economy; and
WHEREAS, the entire State is affected by the health and safety risks of fossil fuel
expansion, particularly those who also face socioeconomic and health inequities, including
low-income families; those experiencing homelessness; Black persons, indigenous persons and
people of color; youth; seniors; those experiencing mental and physical disabilities; and people
with health conditions; and
WHEREAS, our youth and future generations have the most to lose from a lack of
immediate action to stop fossil fuel expansion as they face major and lifelong health,
ecological, social and economic impacts from prolonged and cumulative effects of climate
change, including food and water shortages, infectious diseases and natural disasters; and
WHEREAS, the Paris Climate Agreement remains silent on coal, oil and gas, an omission
with respect to the supply and production of fossil fuels, which are the largest source of GHGs,
that needs to be collectively addressed by other means; and
WHEREAS, global governments and the fossil fuel industry are currently planning to
produce more than double the amount of coal, oil and gas by 2030 than can be burned if the
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world is to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avert catastrophic climate disruption, and
such plans risk undoing the work of the State to reduce GHGs; and
WHEREAS, the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure and expanded reliance on
fossil fuels exposes communities to untenable risks to public health and safety at the local and
global levels; and
WHEREAS, the economic opportunities presented by a clean energy transition far
outweigh the opportunities presented by an economy supported by expanding fossil fuel
extraction and use; and
WHEREAS, the State is committed, as part of our climate emergency response, to a just
energy transition and to ambitious investments in the green infrastructure and industries that
will create jobs and rapidly decarbonize our economy; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that it is the urgent responsibility and moral
obligation of fossil fuel producers to lead in putting an end to fossil fuel development and to
manage the reduction of existing production; and
WHEREAS, a new global initiative calling for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty would
end new fossil fuel exploration and expansion, phase out existing production in line with the
global commitment to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and accelerate equitable transition
plans; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That We, the members of the One Hundred and Thirty-first Legislature now
assembled in the Second Regular Session, on behalf of the people we represent, express our
support for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, urge the United States Government to support
a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty and express our support for the goals of the Paris Climate
Agreement and the GHGs reduction targets as called for by the IPCC.
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