Congressional Research Service Reports - 287 Matching Results

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Clean Air After the CAIR Decision: Back to Square One?

Description: This report discusses the potential impact on communities attempting to achieve National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and the impact on mercury emissions could be substantial, and has prompted some to call for congressional action to address the issue.
Date: February 9, 2009
Creator: McCarthy, James E.; Parker, Larry & Meltz, Robert
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Capturing CO2 from Coal-Fired Power Plants: Challenges for a Comprehensive Strategy

Description: This report examines the current effort to develop technology that would capture CO2. First, the paper outlines the current status of carbon capture technology. Second, the paper examines the role of government in developing that technology, both in terms of creating a market for carbon capture technology and encouraging development of the technology. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of implications of capture technology for climate change legislation.
Date: February 13, 2009
Creator: Parker, Larry; Stine, Deborah D. & Folger, Peter
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Estimates of Carbon Mitigation Potential from Agricultural and Forestry Activities

Description: The report is organized into three parts. The first provides a brief overview of the role of the agriculture and forestry sectors within the broader climate change debate, describing available estimates of current GHG emissions and carbon sequestration in the farm and forestry sectors. The second describes available data and information on the potential for carbon storage (tonnage) by type of farming and forestry activity, and presents available estimates of the carbon sequestration potential i… more
Date: February 20, 2009
Creator: Johnson, Renée; Gorte, Ross W.; Yacobucci, Brent D. & Schnepf, Randy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Carbon Tax and Greenhouse Gas Control: Options and Considerations for Congress

Description: This report begins with an overview of the fundamental choices involved between a cost (tax) and a quantity (cap) control instrument. This includes a discussion of policy tools that could be employed to bridge the gap between a carbon tax and a cap-and-trade program. Following this overview, the report analyzes the potential advantages and disadvantages of a carbon tax. In many cases, carbon tax attributes are compared with those of a cap-and-trade program. The next section discusses implementa… more
Date: March 10, 2009
Creator: Ramseur, Jonathan L. & Parker, Larry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Biochar: Examination of an Emerging Concept to Mitigate Climate Change

Description: This report briefly describes biochar, its potential advantages and disadvantages, legislative support, and research and development activities underway in the United States and abroad.
Date: February 3, 2009
Creator: Bracmort, Kelsi S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Global Climate Change Initiative (GCCI): Budget Authority and Request, FY2010-FY2013

Description: The United States supports international financial assistance for global climate change initiatives in developing countries. The Global Climate Change Initiative (GCCI) aims to integrate climate change considerations into U.S. foreign assistance through a full range of bilateral, multilateral, and private sector mechanisms to foster low-carbon growth, promote sustainable and climate-resilient societies, and reduce emissions from deforestation and land degradation. The GCCI is implemented throug… more
Date: March 15, 2012
Creator: Lattanzio, Richard K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS): A Primer

Description: This report is a brief summary of what CCS is, how it is supposed to work, why it has gained the interest and support of some members of Congress, and what some of the challenges are to its implementation and deployment across the United States.
Date: May 14, 2012
Creator: Folger, Peter
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

International Climate Change Financing: Needs, Sources, and Delivery Methods

Description: This report discusses the domestic and international efforts to increase foreign assistance to address climate change. Proponents maintain that such assistance could help promote low-emissions and high-growth economic development in lower-income countries, while simultaneously protecting the more vulnerable countries from the effects of a changing climate. The fundamental dispute concerning international financing for climate change centers upon who should pay for it and how.
Date: May 5, 2011
Creator: Lattanzio, Richard K. & Leggett, Jane A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Litigation Seeking to Establish Climate Change Impacts as a Common Law Nuisance

Description: There are five common law/nuisance suits addressing climate change now or formerly active. Of the three no longer active, none were successful. Of the two still-active cases, one has recently leaped to center stage because the Supreme Court agreed to hear it. In Connecticut v. American Electric Power Co., Inc., eight states sued five utility companies alleged to be emitting the most GHGs in the nation through their coal-fired electric power plants. Following a Second Circuit decision, the Supre… more
Date: May 9, 2011
Creator: Meltz, Robert
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Geoengineering: Governance and Technology Policy

Description: This report is intended as a primer on the policy issues, science, and governance of geoengineering technologies. The report will first set the policy parameters under which geoengineering technologies may be considered. It will then describe selected technologies in detail and discuss their status. The third section provides a discussion of possible approaches to governmental involvement in, and oversight of, geoengineering, including a summary of domestic and international instruments and ins… more
Date: January 10, 2011
Creator: Bracmort, Kelsi; Lattanzio, Richard K. & Barbour, Emily C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened concerns about the region's future. Issues such as Arctic sovereignty claims; commercial shipping through the Arctic; Arctic oil, gas, and mineral exploration; endangered Arctic species; and increased military operations in the Arctic could cause the region in coming years to become an arena of international cooperation, competition, or conflict. This report provides an overview of Arctic-… more
Date: October 8, 2010
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Litigation Seeking to Establish Climate Change Impacts as a Common Law Nuisance

Description: This report discusses recent legislative initiatives seeking to establish climate change impacts as a common law nuisance. The report explains what private and public nuisances are, the issues faced by policymakers when litigating a climate-change/nuisance suit, and also discusses five climate-chance/nuisance suits that are now or formerly active, as a basis of comparison. The report also explores arguments of those both for and against addressing the complex issue of climate change through com… more
Date: November 19, 2010
Creator: Meltz, Robert
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change: Market-Based Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

Description: This report discusses global climate change and the possibility that human activities are releasing gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), at rates that could affect global climate change.
Date: October 1, 2002
Creator: Parker, Larry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change

Description: This report briefly reviews the status of climate science, international negotiations, and congressional activity focused specifically on climate change.
Date: March 21, 2006
Creator: Justus, John R. & Fletcher, Susan R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Quality Issues and Animal Agriculture: EPA's Air Compliance Agreement

Description: In an effort to collect scientifically credible data regarding the effect of animal agriculture on water resources (specifically animal waste and emissions from animal feeding operations (AFO), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in January 2005 announced the Air Compliance Agreement. The agreement is intended to produce air quality monitoring data on AFO emissions during a two-year study, while at the same time protecting participants through a “safe harbor” from liability under certain … more
Date: February 2, 2006
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Air Quality Issues and Animal Agriculture: EPA's Air Compliance Agreement

Description: In an effort to collect scientifically credible data regarding the effect of animal agriculture on water resources (specifically animal waste and emissons from animal feeding operations (AFO), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in January 2005 announced the Air Compliance Agreement. The agreement is intended to produce air quality monitoring data on AFO emissions during a two-year study, while at the same time protecting participants through a “safe harbor” from liability under certain p… more
Date: July 12, 2005
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change: The Kyoto Protocol

Description: This report discusses the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was completed December 11, 1997, committing the industrialized nations to specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six “greenhouse gases.”
Date: October 27, 2004
Creator: Fletcher, Susan R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Global Climate Change: The Kyoto Protocol

Description: This report discusses the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was completed December 11, 1997, committing the industrialized nations to specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six “greenhouse gases.”
Date: June 10, 2004
Creator: Fletcher, Susan R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Global Climate Change: The Kyoto Protocol

Description: This report discusses the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was completed December 11, 1997, committing the industrialized nations to specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six “greenhouse gases.”
Date: September 8, 2003
Creator: Fletcher, Susan R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Global Climate Change: The Kyoto Protocol

Description: This report discusses the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was completed December 11, 1997, committing the industrialized nations to specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six “greenhouse gases.”
Date: January 15, 2003
Creator: Fletcher, Susan R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Global Climate Change: The Kyoto Protocol

Description: This report discusses the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was completed December 11, 1997, committing the industrialized nations to specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six “greenhouse gases.”
Date: December 17, 2001
Creator: Fletcher, Susan R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Global Climate Change: A Survey of Scientific Research and Policy Reports

Description: This report is intended to guide the reader through U.S. global climate change policy from the passage of the National Climate Program Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-367) through the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) was opened for signatures. It offers a summary of scientific research on global climate change and related U.S. policy and identifies what many consider to be important milestones in the international policy debate on global cli… more
Date: April 13, 2000
Creator: Morrissey, Wayne A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change: The Role for Energy Efficiency

Description: This report reviews the role of energy efficiency in federal policies to curb CO2 emissions. In particular, it discusses targets for CO2 reductions, projected energy efficiency impacts, strategies for measuring impacts, and legislative proposals that would affect support for energy efficiency programs.
Date: February 3, 2000
Creator: Sissine, Fred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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