AAAS Center for Science, Technology and Congress

Climate Change Information Resources

This page contains links to policy programs and initiatives to address climate change from various levels of government as well as organizations and think tanks. Additionally, there are reports from government agencies on a variety of climate change related subjects and legislation introduced in congress.

Government Sites
Organizational Sites
National Academies
Congressional Research Service
Government Accountability Office
Other government reports
Bills introduced in the 111th Congress
Bills introduced in the 110th Congress

Government Sites

International

• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Climate change site
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
• European Environment Agency Information on the European Union's climate change programs and other international activities, including the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)

U.S. Government Sites

• U.S. Climate Change Science Program
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) General climate change site
• U.S. Department of Energy General climate change site
• U.S. Department of State General climate change site
• Council on Environmental Quality White House programs to address climate change
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Program Office
• Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
• Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
• House Committee on Energy and Commerce Climate Change Legislation Design White Papers
• House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming
• House Committee on Science and Technology Climate change page

State and Local Government Sites

• Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado (pdf) | Connecticut | Delaware | District of Columbia | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii (pdf) | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming
• Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
• Western Climate Initiative
• National Governors Association
• U.S. Conference of Mayors
• Bay Area Air Quality Management District (San Francisco) Climate Protection Program
• City of Austin Climate Protection Program
• City of Boston Climate change initiatives
• City of Cincinnati Climate Protection Action Plan
• City of Dallas Climate change information
• City and County of Denver Climate Action Plan
• City of Kansas City Climate Protection Plan
• City of Los Angeles Climate change initiatives
• City of Miami Climate Action Plan (MiPlan)
• City of Minneapolis Climate Change Grant program
• City of New York PlaNYC: Climate Change
• City of Philadelphia Local Action Plan for Climate Change
• City of Phoenix Environmental Sustainability Program
• City of Portland (Oregon) Local Action Plan on Global Warming
• City of Seattle Climate protection site

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Organizational Sites

• The Climate Registry
• California Climate Action Registry
• C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
• Chesapeake Climate Action Network
• Local Governments for Sustainability
• Cool Counties campaign (King County, WA website)
• Cool Cities campaign (Sierra Club website)
• The Brookings Institution featured content on climate change
• Pew Center on Global Climate Change Information on federal and state policy
• Joint Global Change Research Institute
• The Climate Institute
• Scientists and Engineers for America (SEA) provides coverage of climate change issues on Capitol Hill and elsewhere
• American Meteorological Society (AMS) has a page for its Committee on Climate Variability and Change
• Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) Information and news on climate change policy

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National Academies

• Climate Change at the National Academies
• Ensuring the Climate Record from the NPOESS and GOES-R Spacecraft: Elements of a Strategy to Recover Measurement Capabilities Lost in Program Restructuring (ISBN-10: 0-309-12184-1)
• Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation (ISBN-10: 0-309-11306-7)
• Evaluating Progress of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program: Methods and Preliminary Results (ISBN-10 0-309-10826-8)
• Radiative Forcing of Climate Change: Expanding the Concept and Addressing Uncertainties (ISBN-10 0-309-09506-9)
• Understanding Climate Change Feedbacks (ISBN-10 0-309-09072-5)
• Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable Surprises (ISBN-10: 0-309-07434-7)
• Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions (ISBN-10 0-309-07574-2)

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Congressional Research Service

• Climate Change: Current Issues and Policy Tools (RL34513)
• Climate Change: Costs and Benefits of S.2191 (RL34489)
• Side-by-Side Comparison of Climate Change Provisions in Omnibus Energy Legislation in the 110th Congress (RL34282)
• Climate Change: Science Update 2007 (RL34266)
• The Carbon Cycle: Implications for Climate Change and Congress (RL34059)
• Climate Change: Science Policy Implications (RL33849)
• Climate Change: Greenhouse Gas Reduction Bills in the 110th Congress (RL33846)
• The Supreme Court's Climate Change Decision: Massachusetts v. EPA (RS22665)
• Climate Change: The European Union's Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) (RL33581)
• Global Climate Change: Federal Research on Possible Human Effects (RL31519)

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Government Accountability Office

• Clean Air Act: Historical Information on EPA's Process for Reviewing California Waiver Requests and Making Waiver Determinations (GAO-09-249R)
• International Climate Change Programs: Lessons Learned from European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme and the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (GAO-09-151)
• Climate Change: Expert Opinion on the Economics of Policy Options to Address Climate Change (GAO-08-605)
• Aviation and the Environment: NextGen and Research and Development are Keys to Reducing Emissions and Their Impact on Health and Climate (GAO-08-706T)
• Climate Change Research: Agencies Have Data-Sharing Policies but Could Do More to Enhance the Availability of Data From Federally Funded Research (GAO-07-1172)
• Climate Change: Agencies Should Develop Guidelines for Addressing the Effects on Federal Lands and Water Resources (GAO-07-863)
• Climate Change: Financial Risks to Federal and Private Insurers in Coming Decades are Potentially Significant (GAO-07-820T)
• Legislative Branch: Energy Audits Are Key to Strategy for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GAO-07-516)

Other government reports

• Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2007, Energy Information Administration
• New Science for a Secure and Sustainable Energy Future, Office of Basic Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy

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Bills introduced in the 111th Congress

• Greenhouse Gas Registry Act (H.R.232)
• Save Our Climate Act of 2009 (H.R.594)

Bills introduced in the 110th Congress

• National Greenhouse Gas Registry Act of 2007 (S.1387)
• Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act (S.309)
• Clean Air/Climate Change Act of 2007 (S.1168)
• Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2007 (S.280)
• Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008 (S.3036)
• America's Climate Security Act of 2007 (S.2191) (substituted by S.3036 above)
• Save Our Climate Act of 2007 (H.R.2069)
• Climate MATTERS Act of 2008 (H.R.6316)
• Combatting Climate Change Through Individual Action Act of 2008 (H.R.5858)
• Investing in Climate Action and Protection Act (H.R.6186)
• Moratorium on Uncontrolled Power Plants Act of 2008 (H.R.5575)
• Global Change Research Improvement Act of 2007 (S.2307)
• Climate Change Adaptation Act (S.2355)
  

For more information on climate change legislation, see the AAAS 2008 Legislative Tracker

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Updated February 20, 2009