Number: RL32955
Title: Climate Change Legislation in the 109th Congress
Authors: Brent D. Yacobucci, Resources, Science, and Industry Division 
Abstract: Climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were issues in the 109th Congress, as they had been in past Congresses. Bills directly addressing climate change issues ranged from those focused primarily on climate change research to comprehensive emissions cap-and-trade programs for the six greenhouse gases covered under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Additional bills focused on GHG reporting and registries, or on power plant emissions of carbon dioxide, as part of wider controls on pollutant emissions. Within several broad categories, the bills varied in their approaches to climate change issues. For example, some bills covering research issues focused solely on modeling the effects of future climate change, whereas others addressed the development of monitoring technologies. Bills focusing on technology deployment did so through tax incentives and credit-based programs within the United States or by promoting deployment in developing countries. Bills with greenhouse gas registries were either voluntary or mandatory and varied in the entities covered and the gases registered. Bills with emission reduction requirements also varied in the entities covered, the gases limited, and the target emissions levels. Most notably, on August 8, 2005, President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58, H.R. 6). Among other provisions, Title XVI of the bill established programs to promote the development and deployment of technologies to reduce greenhouse gas intensity. This report briefly discusses the basic concepts on which these bills were based and compares major provisions of the bills in each of the following categories: climate change research, technology deployment, GHG reporting and registries, and emissions reduction programs.
Pages: 18
Date: January 3, 2007