Description: This paper discusses the three different perspectives used to consider issues related to the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 1997 Kyoto Agreement. The perspectives are: the technological lens (that environmental problems are the result of misused or inappropriate technologies that can be improved); the economic lens (that environmental problems are the result of inappropriate pricing that can be fixed by representing environmental measures in market costs); and the ecological lens (that environmental problems are the result of disregard for the ecosystem and can be improved with education and "green" initiatives). The report discusses each approach and how it relates to policy creation.

Description: This report discusses air pollutants (petroleum, natural gas, and coal), which account for about two-thirds of U.S. electricity generation. These gases include several pollutants that directly pose risks to human health and welfare. The report also discusses the utilities that are subject to an array of environmental regulations.

Description: This report discusses the evolving views on cost, competitiveness, and comprehensiveness regarding the U.S. global climate change policy. The report starts out with the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It discusses the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT), and negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol, which established mandatory limits on emissions for developed countries.

Description: If general regulatory reform bills were enacted, debates on statute-specific reauthorizations could shift from regulatory reforms to the substantive regulatory requirements of each Act. In this case, regulatory reform could consist of proposals to modify statutory requirements to reduce costs to the private sector and State and local governments, to increase flexibility, and to reduce or compensate regulatory impacts on the value of private property. At issue would be a series of potential tradeoffs, for example among efficiency of environmental regulations, national consistency versus local flexibility, protection of private property rights, and degrees of health and environmental protection.

Description: In the context of federal and state proposals to restructure the electric utility industry, this paper analyzes forces and policies affecting utility generation that may have consequences for emissions of air pollutants and of greenhouse gases. Key concerns are potential increases in nitrogen oxide emissions, raising questions about the effectiveness of the Clean Air Act to regulate a restructured industry, and in carbon dioxide emissions, which are not currently regulated but could be if the U.S. ratifies the Kyoto Agreement. These issues may be raised in the context of electricity restructuring legislation. For ongoing legislative activities, see CRS Issue Brief IB10006, Electricity: The Road Toward Restructuring.