U.S. Domestic Climate Change Program Fact Sheet released by the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental U.S. Department of State, November 2, 1998 The U.S. is undertaking a vigorous plan for reducing domestic greenhouse gas emissions. This plan, outlined by President Clinton in October 1997, emphasizes win-win initiatives designed to cut emissions by increasing energy efficiency, developing new, cleaner energy technologies; working with industry and others to promote sensible solutions; and employing market-based mechanisms to ensure cost-effective reductions. Important elements of President Clinton's plan include: Clean Energy Investments and Incentives. The Climate Change Technology Initiative — a vigorous program of tax cuts and research and development aimed at improving energy efficiency and spurring the use of renewable energy sources — represents an additional $6.3 billion over 5 years ($3.6 billion in tax cuts and $2.7 billion in new investment). In response to the President's climate change request, the Fiscal Year 1999 appropriations bills include over $1 billion for investments in U.S. energy efficiency and renewables — a 25% increase over last year. Included in this package are additional funds for: Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, a government-industry effort to develop safe, attractive, affordable cars that are three times as fuel efficient as today's autos. Similar efforts are underway to develop cleaner, more efficient diesel engines for both light and heavy trucks. — Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing, a partnership with the homebuilding sector to build new homes that are 50% more energy-efficient and retrofit at least 15 million existing homes to make them 30% more energy efficient within the next decade. Energy Star Buildings and Green Lights, voluntary programs that encourage individual building owners, developers, and managers to install energy efficient lighting and maximize energy savings. Buildings that are in the top 25% in energy efficiency qualify for an "Energy Star Buildings" label. Major buildings that have already signed up include: the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center, and Chicago's Sears Tower. Renewable Energy research partnerships to accelerate price reductions and improve performance in areas such as wind, photovoltaics, geothermal, biomass, and hydropower, and for the President's Million Solar Roofs initiative, which aims to install solar panels on one million U.S. roofs over the next 10 years. Industry Consultations. Senior White House staff are meeting with top management from key industrial sectors, including, to date, aluminum, steel, forest products, utilities, cement, and natural gas pipelines to encourage voluntary efforts to cut emissions. These sector-by-sector consultations identify opportunities to remove barriers to the development and widespread use of energy efficient technologies and practices. The President has made clear his commitment to provide appropriate credit to firms that take action to reduce emissions before the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period. Electricity Restructuring. In March, the Administration introduced its electricity restructuring proposal that, by encouraging competition, will save consumers $20 billion a year on electricity bills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 25 to 40 million metric tons per year. Federal Energy Use and Procurement. The President's plan includes making substantial improvements in the Federal government's own use and procurement of energy. In July, the President announced the first four elements of his plan focusing on the building sector. Climate Change Action Plan. In 1993, following the United States' ratification of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, President Clinton launched the Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP). The CCAP focused on promoting voluntary initiatives across a wide array of industries and sectors of the economy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Examples of the CCAP not discussed above include: Climate Challenge, Climate Wise, Industries of the Future, Motor Challenge, Voluntary Aluminum Industrial Partnership, Energy Star Products, Energy Efficiency Standards for Equipment and Appliances, Waste Wise, Methane Reduction Programs, Energy Smart Schools, State and Local Climate Change Program, and U.S. Country Studies Program. New Climate Science Findings Fact Sheet released by the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental U.S. Department of State, November 2, 1998 Significant new findings over the past year reinforce the broad scientific consensus that human activities are disrupting the Earth's climate. New analyses of tree ring, ice melt, borehole, and satellite data provide further evidence that global temperatures are rising as a result of increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. Temperatures Warmest in 600 Years (Mann, et al., Nature 392:779-787; Pollack, et al., Science 282:279-280) Two independent studies published this year have provided additional evidence of the unusual nature of 20th-century warming. In a study published in Nature, scientists used climate indicators, such as tree rings, corals and ice cores, to analyze surface temperatures for the Northern Hemisphere back to 1400. They found the 1990s to be the warmest decade in the last six centuries. Similarly, Science published results from scientists who measured temperatures in 358 boreholes (holes drilled deep in the Earth's surface) in North America, Europe, Africa, and Australia. They found that the average surface temperature has increased in the last five centuries (approximately 1.8 degrees F) and that half of this warming has occurred this century. 1997 Warmest Year on Record (NOAA National Climatic Data Center) In January, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that 1997 was the warmest year on record agreeing with a November 1997 analysis by the UK Meteorological Office and that 9 of the last 11 years have been the warmest this century. Warming Found in Satellite Temperature Measurements (Wentz, et al., Nature 394:661-664) A new analysis of satellite temperature trends for the lower atmosphere (troposphere) bring them into closer agreement with ground-based temperature trends. The study re-analyzed data from Microwave Sounding Unit instruments aboard NOAA weather satellites and found that they show the troposphere is warming at a rate of 0.07 degrees C per decade. This work suggests that the cooling of 0.05 degrees C per decade reported in previous analyses was the result of a failure to Stability of West Antarctic Ice Sheet Questioned (Oppenheimer, Nature 393:325-332) According to a study published in Nature, human-induced climate change over the next century could irreversibly affect the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet, leading to its inevitable collapse in the next 500-700 years and causing a rise in sea level of 4 to 6 meters. The study concludes that while uncertainties remain, recent trends indicate that collapse is the most likely scenario if human-induced climate change is not slowed. Greenhouse Gas Increases May Delay Antarctic Ozone Hole Recovery (WMO, 1998) Greenhouse gases trap heat in the lower atmosphere, which contributes to a cooling of the upper atmosphere that leads to increased ozone destruction. With global adherence to the Montreal Protocol, the ozone layer should begin recovering early next century, but increasing greenhouse gases are expected to slow that recovery. On October 6, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and NOAA announced that the Antarctic “ozone hole" has reached a record size in area, and a near-record size in depth. Evidence for Large North America Carbon Sink (Fan, et al., Science 282:442-446) Researchers have found evidence that North American ecosystems may be absorbing significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere — on the order of 1.7 Gt C per year from 1988 to 1992. These results suggest that most of the assumed missing terrestrial carbon sink is in North America. This new estimate is much larger than previous estimates of the North American sink. |