Evaluating Climate Change Action Plans: National Actions for International Commitment

261 Pages·1996·7.99 MB·English

by  Oscar Avalle (auth.)

EVALUATING
CLIMATE CHANGE
ACTION PLANS
National Actions for
International Commitment
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
Series Editor:
Herbert S. Rosenkranz
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
Graduate School of Public Health
University of Pittsburgh
130 DeSoto Street
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Founding Editor:
Alexander Hollaender
Recent Volumes in this Series
Volume 43 - PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES IN THE SEA
Edited by Paul G. Falkowski and Avril D. Woodhead
Volume 44 - SECONDARY-METABOLITE BIOSYNTHESIS AND METABOLISM
Edited by Richard J. Petroski and Susan P. McCormick
Volume 45 - GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE: Linking Energy, Environment, Economy, and
Equity
Edited by James C. White
Volume 46 - PRODUCED WATER: Technological/Environmental Issues and Solutions
Edited by James P. Ray and F. Rainer Engelhardt
Volume 47 - GLOBAL ENERGY STRATEGIES: Living with Restricted Greenhouse
Gas Emissions
Edited by James C. White
Volume 48 - GLOBAL ATMOSPHERIC-BIOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
Ronald G. Prinn
Volume 49 - BIODEGRADATION OF NITROAROMATIC COMPOUNDS
Edited by Jim C. Spain
Volume 50 - BIOMONITORS AND BIOMARKERS AS INDICATORS OF
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: A Handbook
Edited by Frank M. Butterworth, Lynda D. Corkum. and
Judith Guzmiin-Rinc6n
Volume 51 - CHEMISTRY FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 2
Edited by Lucjan Pawlowski, William J. Lacy, Christopher G. Uchrin, and
Marzenna R. Dudzinska
Volume 52 - PRODUCED WATER 2: Environmental Issues and Mitigation Technologies
Edited by Mark Reed and St§le Johnsen
Volume 53 - EVALUATING CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION PLANS: National Actions for
International Commitment
Edited by James C. White
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EVALUATING
CLIMATE CHANGE
ACTION PLANS
National Actions for
International Commitment
Edited by
James C. White
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
Associate Editors:
Wendy H. Petry and
William R. Wagner
Center for Environmental Information
Rochester, New York
Plenum Press. New York and London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
On file
Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Conference of the Center for Environmental Information, Inc., on
National Actions for International Commitment: Evaluating Climate Change Action Plans,
held November 30 - December 2, 1994, in Washington, D.C.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4613-8006-1 e-ISBN-13; 978-1-4613-0341-1
001: 10.1007/978-1-4613-0341-1
©1996 Plenum Press, New York
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1997
A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation
233 Spring Street, New York, N.Y. 10013
10987654321
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written
permission from the Publisher
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
The Center for Environmental Infonnation (CEI) is a private, nonprofit, educational
organization, founded in Rochester, New York, in 1974. CEI provides infonnation and
communication services, publications, and educational programs in order to:
• advance public understanding of environmental issues;
• act as a communication link among scientists, educators, decision makers and the
public;
• advocate infonned action based on the free exchange of infonnation and ideas.
v
CONFERENCE STEERING COMMITTEE
Donna Mercado Banks, Manager, Environmental Analysis, American Gas Association
J. Christopher Bernabo, President, Science & Policy Associates, Inc.
Alex Cristofaro, Director, Air and Energy Policy Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Roger C. Dower, Director, Climate, Energy and Pollution Program, World Resources Institute
Hadi Dowlatabadi, Department of Energy and Public Policy, Carnegie-Mellon University
Jae Edmonds, Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories
Howard Gruenspecht, Associate Deputy Undersecretary for Program Analysis, U.S. Department of Energy
Lester Machta, Air Resources Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
David Montgomery, Charles River Associates
Richard H. Moss, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Richard Richels, Director, Energy Analysis and Planning Department, Electric Power Research Institute
Martin A. Smith, Chief Environmental Scientist, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation
Carol Werner, Director, Energy Program, Environmental and Energy Study Institute
James C. White, Center for the Environment, Cornell University
Thomas Wigley, UCAR Office for Interdisciplinary Earth Studies
Richard Wilson, Department of Physics, Harvard University
Conference Cosponsors
Contributing Cosponsors
• American Automobile Manufacturers Association
• American Gas Association
• Edison Electric Institute
• Electric Power Research Institute
• Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service
• U.S. Department of Energy
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Energy Policy Division
• World Resources Institute
Cooperating Cosponsors
• Air & Waste Management Association
• Alliance to Save Energy
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy
• Climate Institute
• Cornell University, Center for the Environment
• Environment Canada
• Environmental and Energy Study Institute
• Environmental Defense Fund
• Friends of the Earth
• Global Climate Change Digest
• Global Climate Coalition
• National Council of the Paper Industry for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc.
• National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• Princeton University, Center for Energy & Environmental Studies
• Smithsonian Institution
• Society of American Foresters
• Solar Energy Industries Association
• State & Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators and The Association of Local Air Pollution
Control Officials
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• U.S. Agency for International Development
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Global Change Program
• University of Maryland at College Park, Center for Global Change
• World Meteorological Organization
• World Wildlife Fund
PREFACE
The atmospheric scientists of the world are in general agreement that the threat of
climate change is real, inevitable, and serious. The accumulation of greenhouse gases,
principally CO from burning fossil fuels, is the main cause.
2
At the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de
Janeiro, 166 nations signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change and agreed to
draw up plans to contain greenhouse gases at 1990 levels. Never in world history had so
many nations agreed on anything. .
Developing these plans has not been easy and no two countries have had the same
circumstances and conditions to meet. Countries have not approached their problems in the
same manner and many nations find the task almost impossible to solve under the ground
rules set up in Rio.
This volume contains the papers presented at a meeting organized by the Center for
Environmental Information and held in Washington, D.C., November 30 to December 2,
1994. The principal aim of the meeting was to evaluate the U.S. and other national climate
action plans which had been released a few weeks before.
Specifically, these papers concentrate on an overview of the U.S. plan; the perspec
tives of business, industry, electric utilities, and environmental organizations; mitigation
actions in various plans; integrated assessment; an overview of plans from various nations;
and the need to amend the convention.
The meeting was sponsored and cosponsored by 35 governmental agencies, environ
mental groups, industrial organizations, and educational institutions.
Many thanks are due to the distinguished members ofthe organizing committee who
drew up the program and suggested the speakers; to the speakers who so ably presented the
information contained in this book; to the staff of C.E.1. for handling the correspondence,
the registrations and the mechanics of the meeting; and to those who helped to underwrite
the costs.
The book would not have made it to the publisher without the hard work and
cooperation of the assistant editors William Wagner and Wendy Petry.
And lastly, I must thank my wife, Ruth, for her patience during my preoccupation
with getting this manuscript to the publisher.
James C. White
Ithaca, N. Y.
July 1995
vii
CONTENTS
1. The International Negotiating Committee Process
Oscar Avalle
2. The United States Perspective 5
Daniel Reifsnyder
3. Session I Discussion with Oscar Avalle and Daniel Reifsnyder. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 9
4. Scientific Status Report .............................................. 17
Robert Watson
5. Discussion with Robert Watson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 29
6. The United States Action Plan: An Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 35
Karl Hausker
7. Luncheon Discussion with Karl Hausker ................................ 41
8. Perspectives on the U.S. Climate Action Plan: The State Perspective . . . . . . . . .. 43
David C. Rinebolt
9. The Environmental Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 49
Daniel Lashof
10. Industry/Business Perspectives ........................................ 55
John Hemphill
11. Business/Industry Perspectives ........................................ 59
Robert Beck
12. Session II Discussion with Robert Beck, John Hemphill, Daniel Lashof, and
David Rinebolt ................................................ 63
13. Critique of Session II ................................... . . . . . . . . . . . .. 71
Elizabeth Cook
14. Critique of Session II ................................................ 75
David Montgomery
ix
x Contents
15. Discussion with Elizabeth Cook and David Montgomery ................... 89
16. Electric Power Supply Alternatives: CO Mitigations ...................... 97
2
Charles Siebenthal
17. Session III Discussion with Charles Siebenthal ........................... III
18. Industrial Demand: The Climate Wise Program ........................... 113
Pam Herman
19. Electric Utilities: The Climate Challenge Plan ............................ 119
Dirk Forrister
20. Discussion with Dirk Forrister and Pamela Herman ........................ 123
21. Transportation ...................................................... 127
Wesley Warren
22. Discussion with Wesley Warren ........................................ 131
23. EPA's Programs for Cost-Effectively Reducing Methane Emissions and
Emissions of Other Greenhouse Gases .............................. 133
Kathleen B. Hogan
24. Funding the U.S. Climate Action Plan ................................... 139
T. J. Glauthier
25. Luncheon Discussion with T. 1. Glauthier ................................ 147
26. Canada's National Action Plan ........................................ 151
Richard Findlay
27. Climate Protection in Germany ........................................ 157
Wolfram Schoett
28. Session IV Discussion with Richard Findlay and Wolfram Schoett ............ 167
29. Japan's Action Report on Climate Change ............................... 171
As Presented by Satoshi Tanaka
30. The National Action Plan for the United Kingdom ......................... 181
Mark Hammond
31. The Development of an Asia Pacific Regional Response to Climate Change .... 185
John C. Topping, Jr.
32. Discussion with Richard Findlay, Mark Hammond, Satoshi Tanaka, Wolfram
Schoett, and John Topping ....................................... 191
33. Critique of Session IV ............................................... 197
Jennifer Morgan
Contents xi
34. Discussion with Mark Hammond, Jennifer Morgan, Wolfram Schoett, and
John Topping .................................................. 20 1
35. After the Year 2000 ................................................. 205
Carol Werner
36. Session V Discussion with Carol Werner ................................ 209
37. Integrated Assessment: A Tool for Policy Making ......................... 211
M. Granger Morgan and Hadi Dowlatabadi
38. Innovative Responses ................................................ 223
Irving Mintzer
39. Discussion with Irving Mintzer ........................................ 229
40. Setting Goals under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change ...... 231
Jonathan C. Pershing
41. Discussion with Jonathan Pershing and Elizabeth Thorndike ................ 241
42. Closing Remarks ................................................... 243
William Nitze
43. Discussion with M. Granger Morgan, William Nitze, and Jonathan Pershing .... 249
44. Program of the Tenth Annual Conference of the Center for Environmental
Information, Inc. . .............................................. 259
Participants ............................................................ 263
Index ................................................................. 269