| March 2006
Climate Change | Energy | Environment
D1 - Climate Change. Is Tougher Action Needed to Slow
Rising Temperatures?
Clemmitt, Marcia
CQ Researcher, January 27, 2006, v16, #4, pp73-95
”Debate over global warming has shifted from whether human activities
are causing climate change to whether the possible changes will
be severe enough to justify the hefty expense of developing cleaner-energy
technologies. Economists and even some energy companies have recently
proposed taxing carbon as an incentive to consumers and industry
to shift to low-carbon fuels. Some multi-state coalitions also
hope to issue tradable emissions permits to industry. Congress
has begun to show some interest, but the Bush administration still
argues strongly against any mandates to cut carbon-fuel use.”
Marcia Clemmitt is a staff writer for CQ Researcher. Order Article
D2 - An International Policy Architecture for the Post-Kyoto
Era
Olmstead, Sheila M. and Robert N. Stavins
AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies, January
2006, 12p.
This paper looks look at the future of environmental policy after
the Kyoto Protocol. “Scientific and economic analyses point to
the need for a credible international approach. Because the Kyoto
Protocol’s ambitious targets apply only to the short term (2008-2012)
and only to industrialized nations, the agreement will impose
relatively high costs and generate only modest short-term benefits
while failing to provide a real solution. For these reasons, most
economists see the agreement as deeply flawed, although some see
it as an acceptable first step. Virtually all agree, however,
that the Protocol is not sufficient to the overall challenge.”
Sheila Olmstead,Yale School of Forestry and Environmental
Studies. Robert N. Stavins, John F. Kennedy School of Government
at Harvard University; chairman of the Environmental Economics
Advisory Committee of the Environmental Protection Agency's Science
Advisory Board; and a member of the EPA's Clean Air Act Advisory
Committee and of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Fulltext
D3 - The “Greenless” Response to Global Warming
Daynes, Byron W. & Glen Sussman
Current History, December 2005, v104, #686, pp438-443
George W. Bush renounced the Kyoto Protocol in March 2001 calling
it “fatally flawed” and arguing that it would impose an unfair
burden on a country like the United States, which depends so heavily
on fossil fuels. According to the president, it would have cost
the country up to $400 billion and 4.9 million jobs had the U.S.
signed on to the Kyoto Protocol. Since then he has given more
credence to global warming. The major concern now is the manner
in which the United States should respond to the environmental
problem at hand. If changes in lifestyles and work habits are
needed in response to global warming, Bush would prefer to ease
the country into these changes by using market incentives and
without imposing government restrictions to meet emission-reduction
limits. Byron W. Daynes, Brigham Young University. Glen Sussman,
Old Dominion University. Order Article
D4 - Two Cheers for Expensive Oil
Maugeri, Leonardo
Foreign Affairs, Mar/Apr2006, v85, #2, pp149-161
"This article discusses the effects of high fuel prices on
the oil industry. As market forces have kicked in, high prices
have already started to generate more investment, which will boost
both production and refining capacity in the future. Proven reserves
of oil could fuel the world economy at the current rate of consumption
for almost 40 years. Spare production capacity is the result of
two decades of inadequate investment in exploration. Many countries,
especially those in the Persian Gulf, continue to have an enormous
potential to produce oil. A substantial increase in production
alone cannot lower oil prices. High fuel prices can increase exploration,
production, and refinement, as well as encourage the use of more
energy-efficient vehicles and the development of alternative energy
sources." Leonardo Maugeri is Group Senior Vice President
for Corporate Strategies and Planning for the Italian energy company
ENI and the author of the forthcoming book The Age of Oil: The
Mythology, History, and Future of the World's Most Controversial
Resource. Fulltext
D5 - Fuel Ethanol: Background and Public Policy Issues
Yacobucci, Brent D.
Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress. March
3, 2006. 26p.
The promotion of alternatives to petroleum, including fuel ethanol,
has been an ongoing goal of U.S. energy policy. This promotion
has led to the establishment of significant federal policies beneficial
to the ethanol industry, including tax incentives, import tariffs,
and mandates for ethanol use. This report provides background
and discussion of policy issues relating to U.S. ethanol production,
especially ethanol made from corn. It discusses U.S. fuel ethanol
consumption both as a gasoline blending component and as an alternative
to gasoline. The report discusses various costs and benefits of
ethanol, including fuel costs, pollutant emissions, and energy
consumption. It also outlines key areas of congressional debate
on policies beneficial to the ethanol industry. Brent D. Yacobucci,
Specialist in Energy Policy Resources, Science, and Industry Division
at the Congressional Research Service. Fulltext
D6 - Voices for Biodiversity Management in the 21st Century
Stoll-Kleemann, Susanne
Environment, December 2005, v47, #10, pp24-36
”To develop and implement effective strategies for protecting
biodiversity, decisionmakers require input from a wide variety
of perspectives. In this article, managers, scientists, and residents
explore the pathways and pitfalls of contemporary biodiversity
management, explaining how to protect a region’s biodiversity
while empowering the local population.” Susanne Stoll-Kleemann is an associate professor at the Humboldt
University of Berlin, where she leads the Governance of Biodiversity
Research Group. Fulltext
D7 - Drinking Water: EPA Should Strengthen Ongoing Efforts
to Ensure That Consumers Are Protected from Lead Contamination
U.S. Government Accountability Office, January 2006, 81p.
“Elevated lead levels in the District of Columbia's tap water
in 2003 prompted questions about how well consumers are protected
nationwide. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), states,
and local water systems share responsibility for providing safe
drinking water. Lead typically enters tap water as a result of
the corrosion of lead in the water lines or household plumbing.
EPA's lead rule establishes testing and treatment requirements.
This report discusses (1) EPA's data on the rule's implementation;
(2) what implementation of the rule suggests about the need for
changes to the regulatory framework; and (3) the extent to which
drinking water at schools and child care facilities is tested
for lead.” Fulltext
D8 - Environmental Tipping Points: A New Slant On Strategic
Environmentalism
Marten, Gerald, Steve Brooks & Amanda Suutari
World Watch, Nov/Dec 2005, v18, #6, pp10-14
Fishermen in the Philippines protecting reefs as fish nurseries,
farmers in rural India revitalizing rainwater catch basins, and
residents of New York City replacing trash-strewn lots with community
gardens -- each a small change to correct a local problem. The
results have been much larger -- more-sustainable environments,
increased community cooperation, and brighter futures. The authors
examine how these changes were tipping points that moved eco-social
systems from destruction to sustainability. They demonstrate the
power of community action to address ecological problems that
others regard as too big, too costly, or too complicated to solve.
A sidebar offers a series of questions to help find environmental
tipping points. Gerald Marten is an ecologist based at the
EastWest Center in Honolulu and author of Human Ecology: Basic
Concepts for Sustainable Development (Earthscan: 2001). Steve
Brooks is a business journalist based in Austin, Texas. Amanda
Suutari is a freelance environmental journalist. Ann Marten and
Donna Glee Williams provided editorial contributions. Fulltext
D9 - How Do You Throw Away a City?
Singer, Paul
National Journal, January 7, 2006, v38, #1, pp30-34
”To the untrained eye, the rubble that used to be New Orleans’s
lower 9th Ward looks as if it simply needs to be pushed out of
the way by bulldozers. But waste experts see something else entirely:
a dozen kinds of garbage, each of which needs to be disposed of
separately. Lurking … are toxic chemicals, asbestos, Freon, and
Formosan termites. Cleaning up the mess is proving to be an environmental
nightmare.” Paul Singer is a staff correspondent for National
Journal. Fulltext
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