Climate Change: Federal Expenditures for Science and Technology

Climate Change: Federal Expenditures for Science and Technology

Order Code RL32997
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Climate Change: Federal Expenditures for
Science and Technology
December 14, 2005
Michael M. Simpson
Specialist in Life Sciences
Resources, Science, and Industry Division
John R. Justus
Specialist in Earth and Ocean Sciences
Resources, Science, and Industry Division
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

Climate Change:
Federal Expenditures for Science and Technology
Summary
For over 25 years there have been federal programs directly or indirectly related
to climate change. This report identifies and discusses direct climate-focused
scientific and research programs of the federal government, as well as an array of
energy programs that relate indirectly to climate change. The U.S. Global Change
Research Program in the George H. W. Bush Administration, and subsequently in the
Clinton Administration, funded studies to improve scientific understanding of the
processes that influence Earth’s climate, including trends on global and regional
scales. The Climate Change Technology Initiative (CCTI) was the Clinton
Administration’s package of research and development (R&D) to develop renewable
energy sources and more efficient technologies, targeted tax credits (to encourage
purchase and deployment of more efficient technologies), and voluntary information
programs (so businesses and schools might be better informed when making
purchasing and operating decisions involving energy use and emissions).
The CCTI was followed by the current Bush Administration’s Climate Change
Research Initiative (CCRI) and National Climate Change Technology Initiative
(NCCTI), both overseen and coordinated by a cabinet-level Committee on Climate
Change Science and Technology Integration. The CCRI and the extant U.S. Global
Change Research Program (GCRP) were first combined into the Climate Change
Science Program (CCSP) in the FY2004 budget. The CCRI focuses on short-term,
policy-relevant objectives of climate change science. The GCRP focuses on
long-term, fundamental scientific research objectives. The CCSP was accompanied
in the FY2005 budget by the Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP).
Funding for CCSP amounted to $1.766 billion in FY2003, $1.975 billion in
FY2004, and $1.913 billion in FY2005. For FY2006, $1.886 billion has been
requested, a reduction of 1.4% relative to FY2005. Funding for climate change
technologies amounted to $2.6 billion in FY2003, $2.87 billion in FY2004, and
$2.99 billion in FY2005. For FY2006, $2.87 billion has been requested, a reduction
of 4.0% relative to FY2005. Total funding for climate change scientific research and
technologies amounted to $4.366 billion in FY2003, $4.845 billion in FY2004, and
$4.903 billion in FY2005. For FY2006, $4.756 billion has been requested, a
reduction of 3.0% relative to FY2005.
This report will be updated as events warrant.

Contents
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Science and Technology Programs and Funding Levels by Agency . . . . . . . 2
Climate-Related Programs by Agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Department of Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
National Aeronautics and Space Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
National Science Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Department of Commerce — National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Environmental Protection Agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Department of Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Department of Health and Human Services — National Institutes of
Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Department of Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Department of the Interior — United States Geological Survey . . . . . 10
Smithsonian Institution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
United States Agency for International Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Department of Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Department of State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Department of Housing and Urban Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
List of Tables
Table 1. Funding for Climate Change Research, Technologies: A
Four-Year Comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Table 2. Funding for Climate Change Science Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Table 3. Bush Administration Climate Change Technology Program Funding
by Agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Climate Change: Federal Expenditures for
Science and Technology
Background
For over 25 years there have been federal programs directly or indirectly related
to climate change. Direct programs have focused largely on scientific research to
improve the capability to understand climate systems and/or predict climatic change
and variability. Energy use has been one major focus of efforts related to possible
climate change because carbon dioxide, the major “greenhouse gas,” is added to the
atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned. All those efforts, which sought to reduce
oil imports, manage electricity needs, and address environmental concerns including
climate change, involve many parts of the government. Climate science efforts in
various agencies have sought to expand scientific understanding of the dynamics of
climate and its societal consequences as a basis for policy decisions that rely on
improved predictions of future climate conditions and climate impact assessments.
This report identifies and discusses direct climate-focused scientific and research
programs of the federal government, as well as an array of energy programs that
relate indirectly to climate change.1
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (GCRP), established in the George
H. W. Bush Administration, funds studies to improve scientific understanding of the
processes that influence Earth’s climate, including trends on global and regional
scales. The Climate Change Technology Initiative (CCTI) was the Clinton
Administration’s package of research and development (R&D) to develop renewable
energy sources and more efficient technologies, targeted tax credits (to encourage
purchase and deployment of more efficient technologies), and voluntary information
programs (so businesses, state and local governments, schools, and others might be
better informed when making purchasing and operating decisions involving energy
use and emissions).
The CCTI was succeeded by the current Bush Administration’s Climate Change
Research Initiative (CCRI) and National Climate Change Technology Initiative
(NCCTI), both overseen and coordinated by a cabinet-level Committee on Climate
Change Science and Technology Integration. The CCRI and the extant U.S. Global
Change Research Program were combined into the Climate Change Science Program
(CCSP) in the FY2004 budget. The CCRI focuses on short-term, policy-relevant
objectives of climate change science. The GCRP focuses on long-term, fundamental
scientific research objectives. The CCSP was accompanied in the FY2005 budget
1 CRS Issue Brief IB89005, Global Climate Change, by John R. Justus and Susan R.
Fletcher, reviews the status of climate science, international negotiations, and congressional
activity focused specifically on climate change.

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by the Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP). Past and current funding
details, and brief program descriptions, follow.
Funding
The President’s FY2006 budget requested $1.886 billion to sponsor scientific
research directly managed by the CCSP. Included in the CCSP funds are $183
million for CCRI and $1.7 billion for GCRP. The FY2006 budget requested $2.87
billion for climate change technologies. Past and current total amounts for research
and for technologies are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Funding for Climate Change Research, Technologies:
A Four-Year Comparison
($ millions)
FY2006
$ Change,
% Change,
FY2003
FY2004
FY2005
req.
2005 to 2006 2005 to 2006
G. W. Bush Admin.
1,766
1,975
1,913
1,886
-$27
-1.4%
Climate Change
(pre-CCSP)
(CCSP
(CCRI +
(CCRI +
Science Program
begins, =
GCRP)
GCRP)
(CCSP;* scientific
CCRI +
research)
GCRP)
Climate Change
41
168
221
183
-$38
-17.2%
Research
Initiative (CCRI)
Global Change
1,725
1,807
1,692
1,703
$11
0.6%
Research
Program (GCRP)
G. W. Bush Admin.
2,600
2,870
2,990
2,870
-$120
-4.0%
Climate Change
Technology
Program
(CCTP;
technologies)
Total Science +
4,366
4,845
4,903
4,756
-$147
-3.0%
Technology
(CCSP + CCTP)
Sources: Report to Congress on Federal Climate Change Expenditures, June 11, 2001, at [http://
epw.senate.gov/107th/FY03ClimateRept.htm]. Federal Climate Change Expenditures Report to
Congress, March 2005, at [http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative/fy06_climate_change_rpt.pdf].
* The CCSP was made of components that existed before the CCSP name. The CCSP name began
with the FY2004 budget.
Science and Technology Programs and
Funding Levels by Agency
Climate change research and/or technology activities are or have been specified
in the budgets of the following federal entities:
! Department of Agriculture (USDA)

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! Department of Commerce — National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (DOC-NOAA) and National Institute of Standards
and Technology (DOC-NIST)
! Department of Defense (DOD)
! Department of Energy (DOE)
! Department of Health and Human Services — National Institutes of
Health (HHS-NIH)
! Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
! Department of the Interior — United States Geological Survey
(DOI-USGS)
! Department of State (DOS)
! Department of Transportation (DOT)
! Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
! National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
! National Science Foundation (NSF)
! United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
! Smithsonian Institution (SI)
Funding by agency for climate change science programs is summarized in Table
2. Funding by agency for climate change technology programs is summarized in
Table 3. Agencies in both tables are listed in order of decreasing levels of funds.
Table 2. Funding for Climate Change Science Program
($ millions)
Department/
FY2006 $ Change, 2005
% Change,
Agency
FY2003
FY2004 FY2005
req.
to 2006
2005 to 2006
NASA
1,147
1,321
1,264
1,162
-$102
-8%
NSF
203
215
198
197
-$1
-1%
DOC-NOAA
116
116
124
181
$57
46%
DOE
115
133
129
132
$3
2%
USDA
62
70
73
88
$15
21%
HHS-NIH
61
61
65
65
$0
0%
DOI-USGS
28
28
24
24
$0
0%
EPA
22
22
20
21
$1
5%
SI
6
6
6
6
$0
0%
USAID
6
6
6
6
$0
0%
DOT
—
1
3
3
$0
0%
DOS
0
1
1
1
$0
0%
Subtotal,
CCRI (included
41
168
221
183
-$38
-17%
in CCSP total)
Total, CCSP
1,766
1,975
1,913
1,886
-$27
-1%
Source: “Analytical Perspectives” of the Budget of the United States Government Fiscal Year 2006,
p. 69.

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Table 3. Bush Administration Climate Change Technology
Program Funding by Agency
($ millions)
Department/
FY2006
$ Change,
% Change,
Agency
FY2003
FY2004
FY2005
req.
2005 to 2006
2005 to 2006
DOE 2,100
2,400
2,480
2,500
$20
0.8%
NASA
nd
230
208
130
-$78
-37.5%
EPA
100
110
109
110
$1
0.9%
DOD
80
50
79
60
-$19
-24.0%
USDA
40
50
50
40
-$10
-20.0%
DOC-
40
30
30
7
-$23
-77.0%
NIST
NSF
9
10
10
10
$0
0%
DOI-
1
1
2
2
$0
0%
USGS
DOT
nd
5
1
2
$1
100%
HUD
nd
nd
nd
nd
—
—
Total
2,370
2,890
2,969
2,860
-$109
-3.7%
Sources: Briefing on Research and Development Funding in President’s FY2004 Budget Office of
Science and Technology Policy January 30, 2003; Federal Climate Change Expenditures Report to
Congress, May 2004; [http://www.climatetechnology/gov/library]; Analytical Perspectives of the
Budget of the United States Government Fiscal Year 2006, p. 65; and Office of Management and
Budget Federal Climate Change Expenditures to Congress, March 2005, at
[http://www.cq.com/flatfiles/editorialFiles/budgetTracker/reference/docs/20050414omb-climate.pdf].
“nd” = no data available.
Climate-Related Programs by Agency2
Following are brief descriptions of climate related programs in each agency.
The agencies are listed in order of decreasing funding levels. In general, funding
levels within each agency have been fairly flat, with the few significant decreases or
increases discussed in the text.
Department of Energy. The Department of Energy has long had science and
technology programs relating to fossil fuel energy use, as well as other energy-related
work relating to climate. The FY2006 request for DOE’s science programs is up 2%
to $132 million, relative to FY2005. The FY2006 funding level of $2.5 billion
requested for DOE’s technology programs is approximately equal to FY2005’s level.
Funding for the DOE’s efforts has been for the research, development, and
deployment of more energy efficient and renewable technologies such as for:
2 All following budget information from Office of Management and Budget, Federal
Climate Change Expenditures Report to Congress, March 2005, available at [http://www.cq.
com/flatfiles/editorialFiles/budgetTracker/reference/docs/20050414omb-climate.pdf].

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! Buildings: low-power sulfur lamps, advanced heat pumps, chillers
and commercial refrigeration, fuel cells, insulation, energy
conserving building materials, and advanced windows;
! Electricity: generation using alternatives to fossil fuels such as solar
energy, biomass power, wind energy, geothermal power,
hydropower, and optimized nuclear power;
! Industries: greater efficiency in industries such as aluminum, steel,
mining, agriculture, chemicals, forest products, and petroleum;
! Transportation: researching, developing, and deploying more
efficient technologies, such as advanced engines, hybrid systems,
fuel cells and emission controls; these constituted the federal
component of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles
(PNGV) which was a 10-year government/domestic auto industry
partnership begun in the Clinton Administration in 1993 that aimed
to produce by 2004 a prototype midsized family car with 80 miles
per gallon gasoline efficiency and a two-thirds reduction in carbon
emissions. Seven federal agencies were involved in the PNGV
(Commerce, Defense, Energy, Transportation, EPA, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science
Foundation); the Bush Administration cancelled the PNGV program
and began the Freedom CAR program which focuses on fuel cell
vehicles and related infrastructure (for details, see CRS Report
RS20852, The Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles:
Status and Issues; and CRS Report RS21442, Hydrogen and Fuel
Cell Vehicle R&D: FreedomCAR and the President’s Hydrogen
Fuel Initiative, both by Brent D. Yacobucci.);
! Removal and Sequestration of Carbon: trying to find better ways to
remove and sequester carbon from fossil and other fuels, via
agricultural and other approaches (in conjunction with EPA, and in
conjunction with USDA); and
! Management, Planning, Analysis and Outreach: governmental
efforts (federal, state, and others) to conserve energy through more
highly coordinated management, planning, analysis and outreach.3
As with the PNGV/FreedomCAR program, many of DOE’s research and
technology dollars have been spent in partnership with other federal entities such as
EPA, with other governmental units, and with private sector entities.
3 From Analysis of the Climate Change Technology Initiative, Research and Development
Support by the Energy Information Agency, U.S. Department of Energy, which can be found
at [http://www.eia.doe.gov], and from Our Changing Planet, by the Climate Change Science
Program, pp.131-133, which can be found at [http://www.climatescience.gov].

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The FY2006 request
for NASA’s science programs is down 8% to $1,162 million, relative to FY2005.
The FY2006 request for NASA’s technology programs is down 38% to $130 million,
relative to FY2005. The decrease in NASA’s climate change science program
number is due to changes in its budget for space observing platforms, and the
decrease in NASA’s technology program number is due to realignment within its
Aeronautics Research areas, according to the Federal Climate Change Expenditures
Report to Congress, March 2005.4 NASA’s Global Change Research Program, using
satellites and other technologies, obtains and reports data on the global carbon cycle,
water cycle, ecosystems, climate variability, atmospheric chemistry, and land
cover/land use, to try to determine how the global earth system is changing, what the
primary causes of change are, how the earth’s systems respond to natural and human-
induced changes, and how better to predict future changes in the planet’s systems.
NASA also is studying more efficient and cleaner aircraft engines and alternative
aviation propulsion systems.
National Science Foundation. The FY2006 request for NSF’s science
programs is down 0.5% to $197 million, relative to FY2005. The FY2006 request
of $11 million for NSF’s technology programs is unchanged from FY2005. The
National Science Foundation, an independent government agency, initiates and
supports scientific and engineering research through grants, contracts, and
fellowships with academic, nonprofit, and other institutions and organizations.
Climate change research funded through NSF includes studies of carbon cycling,
Antarctic ecosystems, climate modeling-analysis-prediction, sea-level changes,
ecological diversity, water cycling, polar ozone depletion-ultraviolet radiation effects,
greenhouse gas dynamics, solar influences, climate variability-predictability, human
dimensions of global change, and other related topics.5
Department of Commerce — National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), and National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST). The bulk of DOC’s climate change work has been and
continues to be in the Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. Much of DOC’s climate change research has not been specifically
identified as being a part of the CCSP or CCTP, but rather part of NOAA’s generic
mission. Among other things, research at NOAA has sought to determine “the
impacts of climate variability and change on ecosystems; ... understand how
radiative, chemical, and dynamical processes interact in the upper troposphere/lower
stratosphere to affect climate; ... (and) study the effects of climate variability and
change on health.”6 The FY2006 request for DOC-NOAA’s science programs is up
46% to $181 million, relative to FY2005. The increase is principally for NOAA’s
climate-related general operations, research, and facilities. NOAA has responsibility
4 Climate Change Science Program, Our Changing Planet, pp. 144-146, which can be found
at [http://www.climatescience.gov], and p. 11 of Federal Climate Change Expenditures to
Congress, March 2005, available at [http://www.cq.com/flatfiles/editorialFiles/budget
Tracker/reference/docs/20050414omb-climate.pdf].
5 Climate Change Science Program, Our Changing Planet, pp. 147-148.
6 Department of Commerce budget initiative, details of which can be found at [http://www.
oarhq.noaa.gov].

CRS-7
for leading the implementation of CCSP. There are no DOC-NOAA climate-change
technology programs.
There have been a few small programs at the DOC’s National Institute of
Standards and Technology which looked at climate change technology issues, such
as supporting advances in instrument calibrations and measurement relevant to
climate change. The FY2006 request for DOC-NIST’s climate-change-related
technology programs is $7 million, down 73% relative to FY2005. The decrease is
principally due to the proposed termination of NIST’s Advanced Technology
Program, which aimed to foster public-private partnerships to help develop early-
stage, innovative, high-risk technologies, according to the NIST website.7
Environmental Protection Agency. The FY2006 request for EPA’s
climate change science programs is up 5% to $21 million, relative to the level
enacted for FY2005. The FY2006 request of $110 million for EPA’s climate-
change-related technology programs is up approximately 1% relative to FY2005’s
enacted level. Those programs are embedded in two main budget categories used in
the Environmental Protection Agency budget presentation: Science and Technology
(S&T, which includes R&D and technology development and diffusion efforts), and
Environmental Programs and Management (EPM, which are the costs to run
programs).
EPA has had six main climate change research and technology areas, briefly
described below: buildings; transportation; industry; carbon removal; state and local
governments; and international capacity building, partnerships, and cooperation.
Some of these activities focus heavily on R&D, while others involve information
dissemination and other activities.
! The “Buildings” component of EPA’s climate change research and
technology activities includes housing and commercial structures.
EPA and others (including DOE) argue that efforts by individual and
organizational consumers to secure the most energy efficient process
or commodity are hampered by a lack of objective information on
which to make comparisons (for details, see CRS Issue Brief
IB10020 Energy Efficiency: Budget, Oil Conservation, and
Electricity Conservation Issues, by Fred Sissine). Through the
Agency’s ENERGY STAR Program and ENERGY STAR Buildings
and Green Lights Partnership, EPA evaluates and certifies energy-
saving building-related products (including such items as televisions,
appliances, residential lighting, and whole houses), and makes that
information available so that consumers and businesses can choose
energy-saving and pollution-reducing products more easily.
! “Transportation” activities of EPA include the following:
7 Climate Change Science Program, Our Changing Planet, pp. 125-127, and
[http://www.atp.nist.gov/atp/charter.htm].

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— expanded support for programs, such as the Best Workplaces for
Commuters program, which provide information and incentives
for commuters to consider transit, ridesharing, or other
alternatives to driving;
— continued support of state and local efforts toward livable and
healthy communities (e.g., through EPA’s Smart Growth
program, which collects and disseminates information useful in
enhancing clean neighborhoods and transportation choices);
— continued funding and coordination activities in various
partnerships, such as EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership,
which links hundreds of local governments, community
organizations, and companies in order to produce knowledge
that is designed to reduce vehicle miles traveled;
— contributions to the former Partnership for a New Generation of
Vehicles and current Freedom CAR (government/domestic-
auto-industry partnerships described previously under DOE).
! “Industry” efforts include working with industries (especially
energy-intensive industries such as cement, chemicals, steel,
petroleum, airlines, and food processing), commonly through
technical assistance, to audit and identify greenhouse gas emission
sources, and to help in formulating appropriate reduction goals and
strategies, including removal of regulatory and other barriers. This
includes working with ongoing privately funded energy efficiency
programs at private companies.
! “Carbon Removal” efforts at EPA were planned in coordination with
the Departments of Agriculture and Energy. The EPA-USDA-DOE
funds for this activity are for studying ways to increase
environmental storage of carbon, as well as the kinds and sizes of
incentives that could be given to land owners and crop growers to
increase the quantity of carbon stored on agricultural and forest
lands, and at the same time improve soil quality, reduce soil erosion,
and enhance other environmental and conservation goals.
! EPA works with “State and Local Governments” to help find ways
to reduce energy use and pollution, sometimes by supporting
existing state and local programs. The Cities for Climate Protection
program, for example, involves more than 54 local governments in
implementing building, transportation, waste, and renewable energy
projects to eliminate about 3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
A state-level example is New Jersey’s state carbon bank program,
established to help achieve New Jersey’s greenhouse gas emissions
reduction goal for the state of 3.5% below 1990 levels by the end of
2005.
! EPA and other agencies are working together, via “International
Capacity Building, Partnerships, and Cooperation” programs, to

CRS-9
research and develop ways to provide technical and other assistance
to developing countries to aid in reducing their emissions.
Developing countries currently emit more than half the global total
of greenhouse gases, and such emissions are growing rapidly.8
Department of Agriculture. The FY2006 request for USDA’s science
programs is up 21% to $88 million, relative to FY2005. The increase is principally
for the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, which has as
one goal to create and disseminate knowledge about changes in regional and global
climate, and how food, fiber, and forestry production can be affected, according to
its website.9 The FY2006 request of $40 million for USDA’s technology programs
is down 20% relative to FY2005. The decrease is principally in the budget for the
Rural Utilities Service’s activities in pursuing options for eligible organizations, such
as non-profit electric cooperatives, to develop renewable energy projects, such as
photovoltaic and wind systems, according to its website.10 Climate-change-related
research includes efforts to improve measurements of carbon inventories at the
national level, and to develop methods to manage crops, soils, and grazing systems
to optimize agricultural productivity, resource conservation, and greenhouse gas
emissions and carbon sequestration. Technology efforts include developing
agriculture-centered technologies to better manage the carbon cycle, from sources to
sequestration.11
Department of Health and Human Services — National Institutes of
Health. The FY2006 request for HHS-NIH’s science programs is unchanged at $65
million, relative to FY2005. There are no climate change technology programs at
HHS-NIH. Within the Department of Health and Human Services, the National
Institutes of Health conducts research identified as related to climate change,
including study of the health effects of ultraviolet radiation and of chemical
replacements for chlorinated fluorocarbons.12
Department of Defense. There are no separate climate-change science
programs at the Department. The FY2006 request of $60 million for DOD’s climate-
change-related technology programs is down 24% relative to FY2005. The decreases
in DOD’s Climate Change Technology Program number is due to reductions in
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) activities by the Army
(FY2006 request is $8 million less than enacted for FY2005), by the Navy ($4
million less than FY2005), by the Air Force ($1 million less), and by the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency ($3 million less). DOD technology efforts
focus on fuel cells, batteries, direct energy conversion systems such as photovoltaics
8 Climate Change Science Program, Our Changing Planet, pp. 141-143.
9 [http://www.csrees.usda.gov/about/background.html].
10 [http://www.usda.gov/rus/electric/renewables].
11 Climate Change Science Program, Our Changing Planet, pp. 123-124.
12 Ibid., pp. 134-135.

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and thermoelectrics, and nanomaterials, all of which can relate to climate change
issues.13
Department of the Interior — United States Geological Survey. The
FY2006 request for DOI-USGS’s climate-change-related science programs is
unchanged at $24 million, relative to FY2005. The FY2006 request of $2 million
for DOI-USGS’ climate-change-related technology programs is unchanged relative
to FY2005. The USGS, within the Department of the Interior, has conducted global
change research including historical research on climate variability and change, and
global carbon cycling through lakes, streams, wetlands, soils, sediments, and
vegetation. The USGS also manages and disseminates satellite land-surface and
ecosystem data which may be used in climate change activities.14
Smithsonian Institution. The FY2006 request for SI’s climate-change-
related science programs is $6 million, unchanged each year back to FY2003. There
are no specific climate-change technology programs at SI. Global climate change
research at the Smithsonian Institution attempts to understand more fully atmospheric
processes, ecosystem dynamics, natural and human-induced environmental change
on daily to decadal time scales, and longer-term climate metrics. The Smithsonian
also serves as a repository of climate change findings.
United States Agency for International Development. The FY2006
request for USAID’s climate change science programs is $6 million, a level
unchanged since FY2003. There are no specific USAID technology programs.
USAID has worked with foreign governments with the goal of reducing net
greenhouse gas emissions and lowering vulnerability to the threats posed by climate
change impacts, by studying ways to increase use of environmentally sound energy,
forestry, and biodiversity conservation methods. Foreign governments receiving
assistance on these concerns have included Brazil, the Philippines, and Russia.
Department of Transportation. The FY2006 request for DOT’s climate
change science programs is unchanged at $3 million, relative to FY2005. The
FY2006 request of $2 million for DOT’s climate technology programs is up 100%
relative to FY2005. The increase is principally to expand National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) efforts to promote safe walking, bicycle, and other
means of transportation, which may relate to climate change, according to the
NHTSA website.15 The Department of Transportation conducts research and analysis
relating to greenhouse gas models for the surface transportation sector, greenhouse
gas control strategies, and transportation and global climate change.
Department of State. Joined by various European Union environmental
policy makers, the Department of State issued a joint statement on February 7, 2003
identifying six areas for possible cooperative research: carbon cycle research;
13 Climate Change Science Program, Our Changing Planet, pp. 128-130; and Federal
Climate Change Expenditures Report to Congress, March 2005, p. 10.
14 Climate Change Science Program, Our Changing Planet, pp. 136-138.
15 [http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/pedbimot/bike/Safe-Routes-2002/toc.html].

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aerosol-climate interactions; feedbacks, water vapor and thermohaline circulation;
integrated observation systems and data; carbon capture and storage; and hydrogen
technology and infrastructure. A government-industry partnership involving the
Departments of State and Energy, and representatives from several countries, was
announced on February 27, 2003 to design, build, and operate a large-scale
engineering laboratory that was labeled “the world’s first pollution-free, coal-fired
power plant. The facility will cost an estimated $1,000 million over the next 10
years.”16 These engineering research activities continue. DOS also will support
development of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth
Assessment Report.17 The FY2006 request for DOS’ science programs is $1 million,
unchanged each year back to FY2004. There are no climate-change technology
programs specified at DOS.18
Department of Housing and Urban Development. There had been
efforts in HUD to increase the use of technologies to make houses more energy
efficient. These efforts were part of the CCTI from FY1999 through FY2001. The
FY2006 budget again contains no specific climate-related funds or programs for
HUD.19
Conclusions
Possible climate change linked to “greenhouse gas” emissions has been
addressed by various U.S. government policies since the early-1980s, with an
emphasis on energy R&D and on climate research and services.20 U.S. efforts in the
George H. W. Bush and Clinton Administrations toward R&D in energy efficiency
and renewable energy, and research into climate and global change were mandated
by the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which implemented the United States’ voluntary
commitments under the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, and by the Global Change Research Act of 1990. President Clinton’s 1993
Climate Change Action Plan linked or created partnerships among various federal
agencies, business, state and local governments, and other entities with the goal of
reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
16 [http://usinfo.state.gov/gi/Archive/2003/Jun/04-247145.html].
17 The United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization
established the IPCC in 1988. A main activity of IPCC is to provide in regular intervals an
assessment of the state of knowledge on climate change. These assessments serve as a
decision support resource for policymaking related to climate change. See [http://www.
ipcc.ch/about/about.htm].
18 Climate Change Science Program, Our Changing Planet, p. 138.
19 Ibid., p. 122.
20 Climate services are activities relating to the collection, management, and dissemination
of climate data and information.

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The current Bush Administration has implemented a Climate Change Science
Program, guided by a Climate Change Science Program Strategic Plan,21 and a
Climate Change Technology Program. The Climate Change Science Program
Strategic Plan, released in July 2003, describes five major research goals: improve
knowledge of past and present climates, improve understanding of climate change
forces, reduce uncertainty in climate change projections, understand sensitivity and
adaptability of ecosystems to climate change, and explore uses and limits of
knowledge to manage risks and opportunities. The Climate Change Technology
Program released two reports in December 2003 that presented a portfolio of federal
R&D investments in climate change technology development, and highlighted
President Bush’s initiatives in technology and international cooperation. The reports
were titled, respectively, Technology Options for the Near and Long Term,22 and
Research and Current Activities.23 As a complement to the Climate Change Science
Program Strategic Plan, the FY2006 budget justification anticipated the release,
sometime in 2005, of a strategic plan to guide R&D in the Climate Change
Technology Program; a draft for public comment was released in September 2005.24
Funding levels requested for both climate change scientific research and
technologies for FY2006 are greater than the levels for FY2003, but less than the
peak values for research in FY2004, and for technologies in FY2005
21 [http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/stratplan2003/final/default.htm].
22 [http://www.climatetechnology.gov/library/2003/tech-options.pdf].
23 [http://www.climatetechnology.gov/library/2003/currentactivities/car24nov03.pdf].
24 [http://www.climatetechnology.gov/stratplan/draft/CCTP-SratPlan-Sept-2005.pdf].