Climate change: federal laws and policies related to greenhouse gas reductions.(Congressional Research Service)

December 8, 2008

Summary

Climate change is viewed as a global issue, but proposed responses generally require action at the national level. In 1992, the United States ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which called on industrialized countries to take the lead in reducing greenhouse gases. Over the past 16 years, a variety of voluntary and regulatory actions have been proposed or undertaken in the United States, including monitoring of electric utility carbon dioxide emissions, improved appliance efficiency, and incentives for developing renewable energy sources. This report provides background on the evolution of U.S. climate change policy, from ratification of the UNFCCC to the George W. Bush Administration's 2001 rejection of the Kyoto Protocol to the present. Recent federal court decisions--most notably the Supreme Court's 2007 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act--have raised the issue of whether EPA should directly regulate greenhouse gases. This report focuses on major regulatory programs that monitor or reduce greenhouse gas emissions, along with their estimated effect on emissions levels.

The George H. W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush Administrations largely relied on voluntary initiatives to reduce the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. This focus was particularly evident in the current Administration's 2006 Climate Action Report (CAR), submittedunder the provisions of the UNFCCC. Of roughly 50 programs summarized in the 2006 CAR, seven were described as "regulatory." However, this small subset of the total U.S. effort accounts for a large share of greenhouse gas emission reductions achieved over the past decade-and-a-half. In general, these efforts were established and implemented in response to concerns other than climate change, such as energy efficiency and air quality.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58) included provisions indirectly related to greenhouse gas emissions, such as energy efficiency and renewable energy. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-140) addresses renewable energy and conservation, but also includes provisions specifically on climate change. These include a requirement for the use of renewable fuels with lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum fuels, and the establishment of an Office of Climate Change and Environment in the Department of Transportation to implement research on mitigating the causes and addressing the effects of climate change on transportation. In June 2008, the Senate considered a bill (S. 3036) to establish an economy-wide cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, after discussion, a cloture motion on this bill failed, and the bill was tabled.

While some provisions in energy laws enacted over the past 16 years have led to lower greenhouse gas emissions or addressed climate change directly, other provisions in those same laws have almost certainly resulted in higher emissions. To date, no energy law has had reducing greenhouse gas emissions as the main organizing principle. Energy-related activities are responsible for about 86% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions, and 98% of its carbon dioxide emissions. Climate change policy directed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions must address energy supply and consumption and, thus, be integrated with energy policy. This will be a pivotal challenge to the 111th Congress's and the incoming Administration's anticipated efforts to enact legislation to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

 
Contents 
 
Introduction 
Background to Federal Climate Change Policy: From "No Regrets" 
  Back to" No Regrets" 
    The International Framework 
    Developing Programs: EPACT and Climate Action Plans 
    Rejection of the Kyoto Protocol 
Regulatory Programs Affecting Emissions of Greenhouse Gases 
    Energy and Environmental Programs Related to Emissions Reductions 
      Emissions Reductions from Landfills 
      Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Determinations 
      Residential Appliance Standards 
      Updating State Commercial Building Codes 
      Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) 
      Renewable Fuel Standard 
      Distributed Energy Resources 
    Monitoring Rules--Carbon Dioxide Monitoring by Electric Generating 
      Facilities 
    Regulatory Program Promoting Renewable Energy Through PURPA 
      Eliminated by P.L. 109-58 
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 
Conclusion 
 
Contacts 
 
Author Contact Information 

Introduction

Climate change is viewed as a global issue, but proposed responses generally require action at the national level. In 1992, the United States ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which called on industrialized countries to take the lead in reducing greenhouse gases. Over the past 16 years, a variety of voluntary and regulatory actions have been proposed or undertaken in the United States, including monitoring of utility carbon dioxide emissions, improved appliance efficiency, and incentives for developing renewable energy sources.

In 2001, President George W. Bush rejected the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC, which called for legally binding commitments by developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.(1) He also rejected the concept of mandatory emissions reductions. Since then, the Bush Administration has focused U.S. climate change policy on voluntary initiatives to reduce the growth in greenhouse gas emissions. This focus was particularly evident in the Administration's 2006 Climate Action Report (CAR) submitted under the provisions of the UNFCCC. Of the roughly 50 programs summarized in the 2006 CAR, only seven were described as "regulatory." (2) These regulatory programs were generally implemented to achieve energy or environmental goals other than the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but produced a concomitant emissions reduction. In this sense, they could be considered the results of a "no regrets" (3) policy in which climate change effects resulting from related air quality and energy policies are included in the decision-making process on new or modified rules.

However, indirect regulation and "no regrets" policies may be supplanted by direct regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. In its 2007 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, the Supreme Court found that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act.(4) Further, the court directed EPA to begin the process of determining whether greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. If EPA finds that they do, then EPA would be required under the Clean Air Act to regulate their emission. However, it is also possible that EPA would find that greenhouse gases do not endanger public health and welfare, or that there is insufficient evidence to make a finding either way.

Further, in June 2008, the Senate considered legislation (S. 3036) to enact an economy-wide capandtrade system to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. (5) However, a cloture motion on this bill failed, and the bill was ultimately tabled. A cap-and-trade system is the favored approach of the incoming Administration, and similar legislation may have a better chance of passage in the 111th Congress.

This report provides background on the evolution of U.S. climate change policy from ratification of the UNFCCC to the George W. Bush Administration's rejection of the Kyoto Protocol programs, to the present. Current major regulatory programs that monitor or reduce greenhouse gas emissions are identified, along with their estimated effect on greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, energy legislation enacted in the 109th and 110th Congresses that could directly or indirectly reduce greenhouse gases is discussed.

Background to Federal Climate Change Policy: From "No Regrets" Back To "No Regrets"

The International framework

U.S. policy toward global climate change evolved from a "study only" to a "study and action" orientation in 1992 with completion of the UNFCCC in Rio de Janeiro. Both nationally and internationally, much of the debate over policies to address climate change has focused on energy use, because fossil fuel consumption is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions in most countries. During the deliberations …