| January-February 2006
Climate Change | Energy | Environment
D1 - Our Changing Planet. The U.S. Climate Change Science
Program for Fiscal Year 2006
A Report by the Climate Change Science Program and The Subcommittee
on Global Change Research. A Supplement to the President's Fiscal
Year 2006 Budget, October 2005, 224p.
”Climate influences the environment, natural resources, the
economy, and other aspects of life on Earth. The Climate Change
Science Program (CCSP) was established in 2002 to empower the
Nation and the global community with the science-based knowledge
to manage risks and opportunities of change in the climate and
related environmental systems. CCSP incorporates and integrates
the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) with the Administration’s
U.S. Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI).” ”This document
describes the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) for FY
2006. It provides a summary of the achievements of the program,
an analysis of the progress made, and budgetary information.”
Fulltext
D2 - The Case For Carbon Capture And Storage
Stephens, Jennie C., Van Der Zwaan, Bob
Issues in Science & Technology, Fall 2005, v22,#1, pp69-76
"This article urges the U.S. government to take a more active
role in the advancement of technologies for capturing and storing
carbon dioxide. Advancing the technologies needed to capture and
store carbon dioxide is a sensible strategy. In addition to increasing
renewable energy and promoting energy efficiency and conservation,
advancing carbon capture and storage can be easily understood
by all who acknowledge that even though fossil fuels will be needed
for a long time to come, the U.S. government must first confront
the climate change problem by setting limits on carbon emissions."
Jennie C. Stephens is Assistant professor in Environmental
Science and Policy at Clark University. Bob Van Der Zwaan is Senior
researcher at the Policies Studies Department, Energy Research
Centre, Netherlands (ECN), Amsterdam.
Fulltext
D3 - The Race Against Climate Change
Aston, Adam, Helm, Burt
Business Week, December 12, 2005, no. 3963, pp58-66
To fight climate change, certain industries are already “facing
mandatory limits on emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases in some of the 129 countries that have signed the Kyoto
Protocol. … Meanwhile, U.S. cities and states are rushing to impose
their own regulations. A surprising number of companies in old
industries such as oil and materials as well as high tech are
preparing for this profoundly altered world. They are moving swiftly
to measure and slash their greenhouse gas emissions.” This special
report outlines ”how major companies, responding to the race against
climate change, are seizing the initiative to reduce greenhouse
gases. Fulltext
D4 - Multi-State Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
: An Initiative of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States
of the U.S.
”On December 20, 2005, seven states announced an agreement to
implement the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, as outlined
in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the Governors
of the participating states. The states that agreed to sign the
MOU are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
New York, and Vermont.” This initiative represents a historic
agreement addressing “the challenge of climate change while increasing
energy efficiency investments and stimulating emerging clean energy
technology markets. This MOU is the culmination of more than two
years of cooperative work by the states, with extensive input
from stakeholders.” The text of the MOU, press material, a frequently
asked questions section, links to state press releases, and more
supporting material are available via this website. Fulltext
D5 - Getting a Grip on Carbon
Tollefson, Jeff
CQ Weekly, December 5, 2005, p3256ff
”Wide accord on the reality of global warming is driving climate
policy at the state and federal level, as debate shifts from whether
to cut carbon dioxide output to how.” This article outlines approaches
currently discussed in Congress. Request
Article
D6 - Energy Markets. Factors contributing to Higher
Gasoline Prices
Statement by Jim Wells, Director Natural Resources and Environment.
Testimony before the Committee on Judiciary of the U.S. Senate.
February 1, 2006, online edition
"Given the importance of gasoline for our economy, it is
essential to understand the market for gasoline and how prices
are determined. In this context, this testimony addresses the
following questions: (1) What factors affect gasoline prices?
(2) What has been the pattern of oil company mergers in the United
States in recent years? (3) What effects have mergers had on market
concentration and wholesale gasoline prices?". Jim Wells
is the Director Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. Government
Accountability Office. Fulltext
D8 - National Biomass Initiative
U.S. Department of Energy, January 2006, online edition
"The Biomass Initiative is the multi-agency effort to coordinate
and accelerate all Federal biobased products and bioenergy research
and development." "Biobased products" are fuels
and similar commodities produced from biological products or renewable
agricultural or forestry materials. The site features fact sheets
for each state, reports and presentations, a list of pending legislation,
a newsletter back to 2002, and links to related sites. From
the National Biomass Initiative, U.S. Department of Energy."
Fulltext
D9 - Energy: Useful Facts and Numbers
Glover, Carol; Behrens, Carl E.
Congressional Research Service, Updated January 10, 2006,
online edition
"Energy supplies and prices are a major economic factor in
the United States, and energy markets are volatile and unpredictable.
For both these reasons, energy policy is of frequent interest
to the Congress. This report presents a statistical view of the
supply and consumption of various forms of energy. After an introductory
overview of aggregate energy consumption, the report presents
detailed analysis of trends and statistics regarding specific
energy sources: oil, electricity, natural gas, and coal. A section
on trends in energy efficiency is also presented. This report
depends largely on data released annually by the Energy Information
Administration (EIA) and will be updated as new data become available."
Carl E. Behrens is a Specialist in Energy Policy Resources,
Science, and Industry Division of the Congressional Research Service.
Carol Glover is a Technical Information Specialist at Resources,
Science, and Industry Division of Congressional Research Service.
Fulltext
D10 - Working Lands
Goodbody, Jerry
Audubon, November-December 2005, online edition
“America's billion acres of agricultural land are an often overlooked
but immensely important piece of the country's conservation puzzle—a
sort of middle ground between the larger (public lands) and the
smaller (backyards). These croplands, pasturelands, and rangelands—what
we call “working lands”—which make up nearly half of the country's
landmass, are home to a high number of endangered species, including
many birds.” The 1985 federal farm bill offers a portfolio of
conservation programs that are key to these species' future. In
addition, this article offers samples of conservation work of
farmers in California, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and Minnesota.
Fulltext
D11 - Hailing a New Era of Cooperative Conservation
Johanns, Mike
USA Today, November 2005, v134, no. 2726, pp. 24-26
”It is time to set the course for a new era of conservation. …
The President has a vision for cooperative conservation and he
has set hard-driving goals to make that vision a reality. … Cooperative
conservation means working with farmers, ranchers, timber producers,
and forest landowners instead of against them. Government has
a strong role to play, but not as a top-down regulator. It has
a responsibility to be a facilitator of community-based collaborative
approaches from the bottom up.” Mike Johanns is Secretary
of the Department of Agriculture. Fulltext
D12 - Do Global Attitudes And Behaviors Support Sustainable
Development?
Leiserowitz, Anthony A. et al.
Environment, November 2005, v47, #9, pp22-38
"This article synthesized and reviews what is currently known
about global attitudes and behavior that will either support or
discourage a global sustainability transition. Many advocates
of sustainable development recognize that a transition to global
sustainability (meeting human needs while maintaining earth's
life-support systems) will require changes in human values, attitudes
and behaviors. The article presents an assortment of charts that
examine how different countries view themselves in terms of sustainable
development." Anthony A. Leiserowitz is research scientist
at Decision Research and an adjunct professor at the University
of Oregon, Eugene. Fulltext
D13 - Beyond a Catchy Slogan
Singer, Paul
National Journal, December 10, 2005, v37,#50, pp3792-3796
”Under the banner of “cooperative conservation,” the White House
is driving significant changes through the federal bureaucracy.
The aim is to foster more cooperation among government bodies
and with regulated entities, and to generate new ways of rewarding
businesses and private-property owners for limiting harm to the
environment. But environmentalists worry that the initiative is
a cover for rolling back regulations, neglecting enforcement,
and undermining bedrock environmental protections. Either way,
the initiative is taking place with little public discussion and
without so much as a single public statement from the president
who enshrined it as official doctrine more than a year ago.”
Paul Singer is a National Journal staff correspondent. Fulltext
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