| August 2006
Climate Change | Energy | Environment |
D1 - Warming To Climate Change
Saunders, Paul J.; Turekian , Vaughan C.
The National Interest, Summer 2006, #84, pp78-84
Surveying U.S. and international efforts to curb global warming, the author examines the issues surrounding climate change in the U.S. political realm. “What has the Bush Administration done? More than most people think--but not enough. Since 2001 the administration has invested nearly $20 billion in climate-change science and new energy technologies through multilateral efforts such as the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy, the Carbon Sequestration Leadership forum, the Gen IV nuclear partnership, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor and the Methane to Markets Partnership. Last year's Energy Policy Act provides $11 billion in incentives for wind, geothermal and solar power, clean vehicles, clean coal technology, emissions-free nuclear power, and renewable bio-fuels. […] Still, the Bush Administration could go well beyond this--and could contribute to rebuilding American global leadership in the process. In a sense, the administration need only do what it should have done five years ago in announcing that the United States would withdraw from the Kyoto process: define a clear and convincing alternative to the Kyoto approach.” Paul J. Saunders is Executive Director of the Nixon Center and associate publisher of the National Interest. Vaughan C. Turekian is chief international officer for the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Fulltext
D2 - Climate Change: Understanding the Degree of the Problem
U.S. House of Representatives. Committee on Government Reform. July 20, 2006, online edition”
In the absence of hard, empirical data, the public discussion of climate change has devolved into half-truths, polemics, and partisanship. To cut through the confusion and bias, Chairman Tom Davis has called … [a] hearing so that the public and Congress can better understand the current state of climate change science, the Bush Administration’s policies, and the various policy approaches available to lawmakers. The discussion .. include[s] Administration officials on hand to discuss the President’s policy toward climate change as well as the technical capabilities within the federal government to monitor climate change. Expert scientists .. discuss … climate change in terms of what is known and what is not known, including recent scientific developments and other contributions to climate change research. The final panel .. present[s] larger, more global concerns regarding climate change, including, among others, general policy options and actions that corporations are voluntarily taking that relate to climate change.” This website links to full texts of testimonies.
Fulltext
D3 - Montreal vs. Kyoto: A Tale of Two Protocols
Sunstein, Cass R.
AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies, Working Paper, June 2006, 49p
“Over the last thirty years, climate change and depletion of the ozone layer have been widely believed to be the world's largest environmental problems. The two problems have many similarities. Both involve global risks created by diverse nations, and both seem to be best handled through international agreements. In addition, both raise serious issues of intergenerational and international equity. […] An extraordinarily successful agreement, the Montreal Protocol, has served largely to eliminate the production and use of ozone-depleting chemicals, while the Kyoto Protocol has spurred only modest steps toward stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions. What accounts for the dramatic difference between the two protocols?.” This report examines the issues surrounding the two protocols and why the U.S. readily supported the one and not the other. Cass R. Sunstein Distinguished Service Professor of Jurisprudence in the School of Law and Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. Fulltext
D4 - Business of a Warmer Planet
Carey, John
Business Week, no. 3993, July 17, 2006, pp26-29
Climate change is changing business, especially for companies that depend on agriculture or wildlife. Beyond cutting emissions companies worry about the costly implications of rising temperatures and later winters. This article outlines how different companies adapt to the new reality – or just chose to ignore it. John Carey is a Washington Correspondent for Business Week. John Carey is Business Weeks’ senior Washington correspondent. Fulltext
D5 - Energy Tax Policy: History and Current Issues
Lazarri, Salvatore
CRS Report, 28 July 2006, online edition, 23p
This report discusses the history, current posture, and outlook for federal energy tax policy. "Historically, U.S. federal energy tax policy promoted the supply of oil and gas. However, the 1970s witnessed (1) a significant cutback in the oil and gas industry’s tax preferences, (2) the imposition of new excise taxes on oil, and (3) the introduction of numerous tax preferences for energy conservation, the development of alternative fuels, and the commercialization of the technologies for producing these fuels (renewables such as solar, wind, and biomass, and nonconventional fossil fuels such as shale oil and coalbed methane)... Salvatore Lazzari is Resources, Science, and Industry Division specialist for the CRS Report. Fulltext
D6 - Renewable Energy: Increased Geothermal Development Will Depend on Overcoming Many Challenges
United States Government Accountability Office, May 24, 2006, Web-posted July 11, 2006, 56p,
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Act) contains provisions that address a variety of challenges that face the geothermal industry, including the high risk and uncertainty of developing geothermal power plants, lack of sufficient transmission capacity, and delays in federal leasing. Among the provisions are means to simplify federal royalties on geothermal resources while overall collecting the same level of royalty revenue. The Act also changes how these royalties are to be shared with local governments disbursements). This report describes: (1) the current extent of and potential for geothermal development; (2) challenges faced by developers of geothermal resources; (3) federal, state, and local government actions to address these challenges; and (4) how provisions of the Act are likely to affect federal geothermal royalty disbursement and collections. Fulltext
D7 - Siting Critical Energy Infrastructure: An Overview of Needs And Challenges
National Commission on Energy Policy, White Paper, June 2006, online edition
“This Staff Paper explores the infrastructure challenges and opportunities that will affect ongoing efforts to improve upon and modernize our nation’s energy systems. Like all contentious energy policy issues, the debate over infrastructure siting suffers from oversimplifications and unexamined assumptions. […]By promoting a broader, shared understanding of these critical issues the Commission aims to advance the policy process and engage a wide variety of stakeholders in a substantive dialogue on infrastructure siting and related issues.” The paper examines the energy infrastructure issues concerning transmission, wind, nuclear, coal, liquefied natural gas, biofuels and the Alaska natural gas pipeline. Fulltext
D8 - The Economic Effects of Recent Increases in Energy Prices. Report to the Congress
Congressional Budget Office, July 2006, 36p
“Contrary to general expectations, the large and persistent rise in energy prices that has occurred over the past two and a half years has not caused substantial problems for the overall U.S. economy. Although many households have had trouble adjusting to the higher prices, the effects on the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), employment, and inflation have thus far been moderate. The reasons for that outcome include various interrelated factors—for example, the U.S. and many foreign economies were at robust points in the business cycle when energy prices began to rise, the Federal Reserve has built up a legacy of successful monetary policy, and the U.S. economy has changed over the past 25 years in ways that have increased its underlying flexibility and stability.”
Fulltext
D9 - Breaking the Oil Habit
Stein, Steve
Policy Review, Aug/Sep2006, # 138, pp53-68
Starting from the premise that the supply of oil to the U.S. is instable because of “the hostility of many major suppliers, the instability of others, and the spillover effects of competition from other users” Stein argues for increased development of national sources of energy. He assesses previous U.S. efforts to combat American “oil addiction” and advocates for ending this “addiction” through reducing the use of gasoline since this is the major source of oil consumption in the U.S. In order to achieve this reduction, Stein supports a heavy gasoline tax that should be offset by an equally heavy reduction in income tax, thus creating an incentive for people to drive less. Stein also discusses alternative energy models while maintaining his focus on energy security for the U.S. Steve Stein is a writer and financial adviser in Marin County, California. Fulltext
D10 - Wading in Waste
Mallin, Michael A.
Scientific American, June 2006, #6, pp52-59
With more than 50% of the U.S. population living in cities bordering oceans, lakes and rivers, microbial pollution has become an increasing problem for nature and humans in those areas. The author argues that in order to “protect America's coastal waters, developers and builders clearly need to move away from their current destructive practices—including clear-cutting, wetlands drainage and extensive use of pavement—and switch to smart-growth strategies. When planning new resorts, shopping centers, office complexes and residential subdivisions, the designers must minimize the use of impervious surfaces and maximize the amount of vegetated areas. A site with plenty of green spaces among the paved areas will have less runoff, and percolation through the soil will remove many of the contaminants swept from the asphalt and concrete.” Michael A. Mallin is Research Professor at the Center for Marine Science at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. Fulltext
D11 - E-Wasted
Jeffreis, Elisabeth
World Watch, July/August 2006, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 28-33
What happens to cell phones, computers and other electric appliances when they are not needed anymore? “A staggering quantity of them simply becomes junk.” informs the author. “The volume of electronic products is vast and waste rates are increasing. The U.S. National Safety Council forecast in 1999 that 100 million computers and monitors would become obsolete by 2003, three times as many as in 1997. Three years ago, the International Association of Electronics Recyclers reported that approximately 20 million televisions become obsolete each year in the United States. In a 2001 memorandum on its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, the European Commission stated that "in 1998, 6 million tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment were generated (4 percent of the municipal waste stream). The volume of WEEE is expected to increase by at least 3-5 percent per annum.” Jeffreis surveys recycling programs around the world and looks into the problem of toxic electronic waste trade. Elisabeth Jeffries is an environmental journalist and copywriter based in London. Fulltext
D12 - Recycling Technology Products: An Overview of E-Waste Policy Issues
Daly, Laureen et.al.
Department of Commerce, Technology Administration, Office of Technology Policy, July 2006, 152p
Recycling of electronic-products has become an issue for communities worldwide, as concerns over waste management have grown. Over 10 countries have laws on recycling discarded electronics, and more are developing legislation. In the United States, five states have banned the disposal of cathode ray tubes from television and computer monitors in landfills. Four states have passed statewide electronics recycling laws, but each with different requirements for manufacturers, retailers, local governments and consumers.” This report highlights diverse issues concerning manufacturers, retailers, recyclers, environmental organizations, and others as they adopt policies and practices to manage discarded electronics. It also identifies possible areas of consensus among the industry and other stakeholders on managing discarded electronics. Laureen Daly from the Office of Technology, Technology Administration at the Department of Commerce is principal author and project leader of this report. Fulltext
D13 - Force of Nature
Vencat, Emily Flynn
Newsweek, August 14, 2006, v 148, # 7, pp40-45
“Environmentalism, once the cause celebre of the left, is increasingly attracting conservative politicians and bid business. Companies like Tesco and Wal-Mart are finding that customers and investors prefer green practices, while even big-name venture capitalists see money to be made in renewables.” Emily Flynn Vencat is a correspondent for Newsweek in the U.K. Fulltext
D14 - The Greening of America
Adler, Jerry
Newsweek, August 14, 2006, v148, #7, pp46-50
“Gallup polling data show that the number of Americans who say they worry about the environment ‘a great deal’ or ‘a fair amount’ increased from 62 to 77 percent between 2004 and 2006.” Americans have come to this view by many routes but they share a joint approach towards a post-Katrina future. “With windmills, low-energy homes, new forms of recycling and fuel-efficient cars, Americans are taking conservation into their own hands.” Jerry Adler is Senior Editor at Newsweek. Fulltext
D15 - Brave Nuclear World
Charman, Karen; Flavin, Christopher
World Watch, July/August 2006, v19,#4, pp12-18
The authors present an overview of the benefits and dangers concerning nuclear power and its feasibility for the United States. “The article begins with a quick review of the ongoing health impacts of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and then spotlights the serious concerns of several experts on the current oversight practices of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in managing aging American nuclear power plants. New designs, such as the pressurized water reactor (PWR) and related configurations may not meet the safety claims of the manufacturers. Nuclear waste disposal is a problem without a ready solution, and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel is complex and expensive, leaving more waste to manage. The article concludes by stating that a significant increase in nuclear power production would not do enough to combat climate change and notes that increased investment in renewable energy is needed.” This edition features the 2006 Goldman Environmental Prize Winners. Karen Charman is an independent journalist specializing in environmental issues, and the managing editor of the journal Capitalism Nature Socialism . Christopher Flavin is President of the World Watch Institute.
Fulltext
|
