; Whereas there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that— (1) human-caused climate change is occurring; (2) the scale of recent changes across the climate system is unprecedented in a multimillennial context; and (3) the accelerated rate of global heating, glacier and ice sheet melting, sea level rise, and ocean acidification as of April 2023 is a result of the buildup of atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions, primarily carbon dioxide emissions, largely from the combustion of fossil fuels; Whereas the accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to an annual average of 419 parts per million in 2022 has caused a dangerous planetary energy imbalance, equivalent to the quantity of energy of exploding more than 400,000 atomic bombs of the kind dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, per day, 365 days per year, across the planet; Whereas the latest climate science and real-world observations of that energy imbalance demonstrate that the approximately 1 degree Celsius of warming that has already occurred as a result of human-caused climate change is already dangerous and negatively affecting all aspects of society and the economy of the United States; Whereas the last time that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide were around 400 parts per million— (1) the seas were up to 70 to 90 feet higher; (2) the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets largely collapsed; and (3) coral reefs suffered a major extinction; Whereas similar conditions will result if the United States does not drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions in addition to naturally sequester and draw down excess concentrations of carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere from cumulative historic emissions during the 21st century; Whereas the longer the length of time atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations remain at dangerous levels, the greater the risk of locking-in dangerous warming-driven feedback loops and triggering accelerated heating and irreversible catastrophic impact