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US policy on the Environment

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Jerry
Oct 23 2002
01:22 pm

In the interest of balancing much of what is being said in the Media and UN about the “official” policy of the Bush administration and the US on the environment, what follows is that policy as it was released to us this afternoon. Any comments?
Fact Sheet
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
Washington, DC
October 23, 2002

United States Global Climate Change Policy On February 14, 2002, President Bush committed the United States to an ambitious climate change strategy that will reduce domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to the size of the American economy. The United States will achieve this goal by cutting its GHG intensity — how much it emits per unit of economic activity — by 18% over the next 10 years. This strategy will set America on a path to slow the growth of greenhouse gas emissions, and as the science justifies — to stop, and then reverse that growth. The President s policy also continues the United States leadership role in supporting vital climate change research, laying the groundwork for future action by investing in science, technology, and institutions. In addition, the United States strategy emphasizes international cooperation and promotes working with other nations to develop an efficient and coordinated response to global climate change. In taking prudent environmental action at home and abroad, the United States is advancing a pro-growth, pro-development approach to addressing this important global challenge. Cutting GHG Intensity By 18% Over The Next 10 Years GHG intensity is the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions to economic output. The President’s goal is to lower the United States rate of emissions from an estimated 183 metric tons per million dollars of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2002, to 151 metric tons per million dollars of GDP in 2012. By slowing the growth of greenhouse gases, this policy will put America on a path toward stabilizing GHG concentration in the atmosphere in the long run, while sustaining the economic growth needed to finance our investments in a new, cleaner energy structure. America is already improving its GHG intensity; new policies and programs will accelerate that progress, avoiding more than 500 million metric tons of GHG emissions over the next 10 years — the equivalent of taking nearly one out of every three cars off the road. This goal is comparable to the average progress that nations participating in the Kyoto Protocol are required to achieve. Laying the Groundwork for Current and Future Action Unprecedented Funding for Climate Change-Related Programs. The President’s FY 2003 budget request provides $4.5 billion for global climate change-related activities — a $653 million or 17% increase over FY 2002 — more than any other nation s commitment. This increase includes nearly $1.8 billion for climate change science, $1.3 billion for climate technologies, and $555 million for the first year of funding for a 5-year, $4.6 billion commitment to tax credits for renewable energy and energy efficient sources and technologies. The budget request also includes $279 million for international activities — a 29% increase. A New Tool to Measure and Credit Emissions Reductions. In his February announcement, the President directed the Secretary of Energy to recommend reforms to the Department s existing voluntary greenhouse gas registry, to: (1) ensure that businesses that register voluntary reductions are not penalized under a future climate policy, and (2) give credit to companies that can show real emissions reductions. Toward this end, the United States will improve its voluntary GHG registry to enhance the registry s accuracy, reliability and verifiability, working with and taking into account emerging domestic and international approaches. These improvements will give businesses incentives to invest in new, cleaner technology and voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions. National Energy Policy. The United States National Energy Policy recommends tax incentives, business sector challenges, and improved transportation programs, to promote energy efficiency and conservation and to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases through the use of alternative, renewable, and cleaner forms of energy. Increased Incentives for Carbon Sequestration. To increase the amount of carbon stored by America s farms and forests, the United States will invest up to $47 billion in the next decade for conservation on its farms and forest lands. This partnership with farmers and small land owners will help protect land, water, and air, secure and enhance habitat for wildlife, and greatly expand opportunities to store significant quantities of carbon in trees and the soil, as well as promote other activities to mitigate GHG emissions. Working With Other Nations to Develop an Efficient and Effective Global Response Enhanced support in the developing world and for bilateral international cooperation on climate change initiatives. The President s FY2003 budget supports significant funding for science and technology research, development and transfer, including:
  • $155 million for the United States Agency for International Development
    (USAID), which continues to be a major source of climate technology
    assistance to developing countries.
  • $50 million for tropical forest conservation, including $40 million under
    the Tropical Forest Conservation Act to help countries redirect debt
    payments toward protecting tropical forests, which store millions of tons
    of carbon.
  • A significant share of the overall funding required to meet the President’s
    commitment of $25 million for climate observation systems in developing
    countries.
  • $68 million for the Global Environment Facility (GEF), to help developing
    countries better measure and reduce emissions, and invest in clean and
    renewable energy technologies. In addition, the United States has pledged
    $500 million over the next four years for the GEF, to help developing
    countries address environmental problems with potential global impact. The
    commitment represents a 16% increase over our contribution to the previous
    replenishment.
Bilateral partnerships. The United States is committed to working with other nations, especially developing countries, to build future prosperity along a cleaner and better path. The President’s strategy promotes cooperative relationships with other countries, so that our objectives and activities complement each other in addressing climate change effectively. Over the past year, the United States has engaged in bilateral partnerships with Australia, Canada, China, seven Central American countries (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama), the European Union, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand, on issues ranging from climate change science to energy and sequestration technology to policy approaches. [End]

See http://www.state.gov/g/inl/rls/fs/index.cfm for all Fact Sheets

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Jerry
Oct 23 2002
01:24 pm

United States “Record of Action” with respect to the environment:

Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Washington, DC October 23, 2002 United States Record of Action to Address Climate Change Domestically “My Administration is committed to a leadership role on the issues of climate change. We recognize our responsibility and we will meet it, at home, in our hemisphere, and in the world." — President George W. Bush The United States government is pursuing a broad strategy to address climate change and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and has recently enhanced these efforts by providing significant new resources for both domestic and international climate programs. Current domestic activites and programs involve all of the major greenhouse gas-emitting sectors of our economy. The United States government estimates that its existing climate change programs reduced emissions by 66 million metric tons of carbon equivalent in 2000, approximately 2.7% of total emissions. The amount of CO2 emitted per unit of GDP (the greenhouse gas “intensity” of our economy) declined by 15% from 1990 to 1999. President Bush has established a goal of further reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of the US economy by 18% in the coming decade, and has increased funding for climate change related programs by 17%, bringing total US government spending this year to $4.5 billion, a commitment that is unmatched in the world. The United States leads the world in basic climate change research and has a long record of support for basic and applied research designed to discover and develop technologies to limit or mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The following section highlights several illustrative programs employed to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in major sectors of the United States economy. Electricity: Federal programs promote greenhouse gas emissions reductions through the development of cleaner, more efficient technologies for electricity generation and transmission. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)/Department of Energy (DOE) Combined Heat and Power Challenge program has the goal of doubling United States combined heat and power capacity by 2010, by providing technical assistance and addressing regulatory issues where possible. Combining heat and power generation saves energy and reduces air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The Federal government also supports renewable resources such as solar energy, wind power, geothermal energy, hyrdropower, bioenergy, and hydrogen. DOE supports the development of a wide range of solar and renewable energy technologies, seeking to improve reliability, expand applicability, and reduce costs. These activities have been very successful. The cost of producing photo-voltaic modules has been cut in half since 1991, and the cost of wind power has decreased 85% since 1980. Transportation: FreedomCAR is a new public-private partnership launched by the Bush Administration in partnership with the nation s automobile manufacturers. It seeks to promote the development of hydrogen as a primary fuel for cars and trucks, with the goal of building a commercially viable zero-emissions hydrogen-powered vehicle. FreedomCAR focuses on technologies to enable mass production of affordable hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles and the hydrogen-supply infrastructure to support them. Industry: The United States government is implementing many partnership programs with industry to reduce emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, to promote source reduction and recycling, and to increase the use of combined heat and power. As a result, industrial sector GHG emissions have been reduced by 5.8% since 1990. Current voluntary partnerships, directed at eliminating market barriers to the profitable collection and use of methane that otherwise would be released to the atmosphere, are expected to hold methane emissions below 1990 levels through 2010. Since the launch of EPA s Voluntary Aluminum Industrial Partnership in 1995, the program s membership has grown to include 22 of the nation s 23 aluminum smelters, representing 94% of the United States production capacity. As of 2000, program partners cumulatively achieved a 45% reduction in perfluorocarbon (a high global warming potential gas) emissions from 1990 levels. In addition, EPA s new Climate Leaders program encourages companies to develop long-term comprehensive climate change strategies. Partners agree to set a corporation-wide greenhouse gas reduction goal and inventory their emissions to measure progress. Climate Leaders currently has 30 partners from a wide variety of industrial sectors, of whom, seven already have announced greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. Commercial and Residential Buildings: Partnership programs promote energy efficiency in the nation s commercial, residential, and government buildings by offering technical assistance as well as the labeling of energy efficient products, new homes, and office buildings. As one example, the EPA/DOE Energy Star program collaborates with a wide range of building owners and users — retailers, real estate investors, small businesses, governments and schools — to improve their energy performance. Since the inception of the program, more than 750 million Energy Star products have been purchased, more than 57,000 Energy Star homes have been built and more than 10,000 commercial buildings have been benchmarked using Energy Star s national building performance energy rating system. Nationwide, Energy Star has saved more than 80 billion kilowatt hours of electricity and eliminated the need for over 10,000 megawatts of peak generating capacity — the amount of energy required to power more than 10 million homes. Agriculture and Forestry: The Federal government is conducting research into methods to reduce emissions of methane and nitrous oxide from agriculture, and is implementing conservation programs that have the benefit of sequestering carbon in soils and forests. For example, the United States Department of Agriculture s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has taken over 36 million acres of environmentally sensitive cropland out of production. CRP provides long-term environmental benefits, including the offset of up to 12 million metric tons of carbon equivalent each year. The Federal Government: The Federal government has taken steps to reduce greenhouse emissions from energy use in Federal buildings and in the Federal transportation fleet by: Requiring all Federal agencies to cut greenhouse gas emissions from energy use in buildings to 30% below 1990 levels by 2010. Directing Federal agencies in Washington, D.C. to offer to their employees up to $100 per month in public transit and van-pool benefits. Science and Technology Research and Development: The United States leads the world in climate change research and has spent over $20 billion on climate and global change research since 1990. The United States research and development agenda addresses major gaps in understanding (e.g., the carbon cycle and the role of black soot), and the development and deployment of advanced energy and sequestration technologies critical to long-term emissions reductions. The President’s FY 2003 budget provides nearly $1.8 billion for climate change science and $1.3 billion to develop new climate-related technologies.

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grant
Nov 05 2002
06:55 am

This has been a source of confusion for me. I do hear horror stories about Bush’s environmental policy in the media or by word-of-mouth, but the actual policy looks pretty good on paper. Can someone who reads “Mother Jones” regularly or has been following some of the negative press on Bush’s environmental policy refute this account of Bush’s stance on the environment?

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laurencer
Nov 05 2002
08:58 am

here’s a basic idea of what environmentalists (mostly left-leaning) are saying about bush’s policy, as provided by the sierra club:

http://www.sierraclub.org/bush/