Climate Change: Federal Expenditures for Science and Technology


 

Publication Date: July 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Environment

Type:

Abstract:

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.