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
On January 11, 2013, the National Climate Assessment Draft Advisory Committee (NCADAC) released a draft of the third National Climate Assessment Report. The report reinforces previous assessments that our climate is changing now and that the change is largely caused by human actions.
The assessment confirms that past greenhouse gas emissions have already committed us to changes in climate, including higher temperatures, more extreme weather, rising sea levels, more drought, and higher risk of fires. The extent of climate change in the future depends on our ability to reduce emissions in the future. The trends identified in the second assessment in 2009 such as general warming, changes in precipitation...
The Georgetown Climate Center's Vicki Arroyo and Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, recently discussed changing public opinions and prospects for new policy actions to address climate change on the National Public Radio program "On Point."
Click play below to listen to the Dec. 6 program.
The Georgetown Climate Center's Vicki Arroyo recently joined Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Eric Pooley from the Environmental Defense Fund, and Bill Becker from the Presidential Climate Action Project to discuss what President Obama and Congress can do on climate change in the next four years. The event was hosted by The Climate Desk.
Watch video of the event below:
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The Georgetown Climate Center has produced a summary of the federal transportation reauthorization legislation, "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act" (MAP-21), which became law in July 2012. This document identifies provisions of the Act that relate to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or adapt to climate change, and can be found in Center's legislative tracker along with summaries of other relevant climate, transportation, and adaptation bills recently introduced in Congress.
Download the full summary by clicking on the link below:
On August 28, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a final rule to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy for light-duty vehicles for Model Years (MY) 2017-2025. The rule, proposed on December 1, 2011, increases average fuel economy requirements for cars and light-...
Updated: August 14, 2012
The Georgetown Climate Center's Jessica Grannis today released a summary and analysis of Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, which includes several reforms that could assist state and local governments looking to implement policies to adapt to sea-level rise and other flood impacts from climate changes.
The Act was signed into law and passed by the Congress as part of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (H.R. 4348) on June 29, 2012.
Key provisions of the legislation:
- Establish a Technical Mapping Advisory Council (TMAC) to provide recommendations to FEMA about how to consider the impacts of sea-level rise in flood insurance rate maps (FIRMs), among...
On June 26, 2012, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld four EPA rules related to the regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The rules and related actions were challenged by state and industry petitioners in four related cases. (Lead case: Coalition for Responsible Regulation v. EPA, D.C . Cir., No. 09-1322).
In a unanimous unsigned opinion, the three-judge panel denied challenges to the EPA’s Endangerment Finding, Light Duty Vehicle Rule, and application of the Prevention of Significant Deterioration program to GHGs. The court found that the agency’...
