Federal Climate Actions
The Georgetown Climate Center strives to strengthen state-federal partnerships and to maximize efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop the clean energy economy at all levels of government. The Center works closely with federal officials and informs stakeholders about the potential effect of federal actions on state revenue and programs. As part of that effort, the Center tracks and analyzes federal climate legislation and regulation.
News and Updates
Vicki Arroyo, executive director of the Georgetown Climate Center, is one of five experts highlighted in the Summer 2011 edition of Democracy. The article "What Next on Climate?" captures a roundtable discussion on the state of climate policy following Congress' failure to pass cap-and-trade and prospects for the future.
See the full version of the article at www.democracyjournal.org
A short excerpt from Arroyo's comments is below:
"I think I can paint an optimistic view, especially listening to businesspeople who are really doing great things in terms of promoting efficiency and renewables in electricity, or transportation, with...
Half of all Americans believe that flooding, droughts, hurricanes, wildfires and coastal erosion are being caused by or becoming worse due to global warming in the United States. The new findings are available in the report, “Climate Change in the American Mind”, which follows up on the “Global Warming’s Six Americas” research completed by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication one year ago.
Anthony Leiserowitz, the director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, joined the Georgetown Climate Center and transportation, energy, and...
The Georgetown Climate Center and the Pew Center on Climate Change hosted the State-Federal Workshop on Climate and Energy Policy on February 24-25 in Washington, DC, to begin answering the question: "What's next for climate policy?"
The conference explored how state and federal governments can work together to chart a new path forward on climate and energy policy. A wide range of issues were discussed including the outlook for federal regulatory and legislative action, updates on state and regional climate initiatives, state and federal adaptation efforts, transportation solutions, and opportunities in the emerging clean energy economy.
Click here for the...
The Georgetown Climate Center recently assisted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in convening one of five “listening sessions” on the design of regulation under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Performance Standards program. The session was intended to assist the EPA in gathering feedback from coalitions like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the Western Climate Initiative, among others.
Executive Director Vicki Arroyo kicked off the session, providing EPA Asst. Administrator Gina McCarthy and staff with comments regarding incorporating state approaches into a federal program. For more information about the sessions, click here to visit the EPA's website.
UPDATED: Five proposals have been offered in the 112th Congress to date as part of the budget debate that would limit or eliminate federal agencies’ and states’ authority to regulate greenhouse gases.
The Georgetown Climate Center has developed a side-by-side comparison of all five. Note: None of the five proposals have been adopted to date.
To view the comparison, click here.
In the past year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken a number of steps to monitor and regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and other existing authorities.
This brief – “What States Should Know About EPA Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions” – summarizes recent regulatory actions, notes potential obstacles to EPA’s efforts, and discusses the role that states will play in the regulatory programs under development.
Click here to view this brief.
Despite the Senate’s decision to move forward without a comprehensive climate and energy bill, states are continuing their work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This week the seven states and four Canadian provinces that make up the Western Climate Initiative released their recommendations for the design of cap-and-trade regulations in the region.
Last month, the Georgetown Climate Center also helped 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states (and the District of Columbia) launch the Transportation and Climate Initiative to develop policies and...
