Regional Climate Change and Adaptation — the Alps Facing the Challenge of Changing Water Resources

European Environment Agency http://tinyurl.com/ybkm95s [Abstract] Spanning the centre of continental Europe, the Alps play a crucial role in accumulating and supplying water to the continent. As such, they deliver vital ecosystem services both within and beyond the region, underpinning social and economic wellbeing in vast lowland areas. Troublingly, the alpine climate has changed significantly during [...]

Disaster Recovery : Experiences from Past Disasters Offer Insights for Effective Collaboration after Catastrophic Events

General Accountability Office http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09811.pdf [From summary] In the wake of the 2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes, coordination and collaboration challenges created obstacles during the government’s response and recovery efforts. Building on GAO’s September 2008 report which provided several key recovery practices from past catastrophic disasters, this report presents examples of how federal, state, and local governments have [...]

Safe Drinking Water Act : Selected Regulatory and Legislative Issues

Congressional Research Service http://opencrs.com/document/RL34201/ [Abstract] Russian oil and natural gas industries have become key players in the global energy market, particularly in Europe and Eurasia. Another trend has been the concentration of these industries in the hands of the Russian government. This latter phenomenon has been accompanied by an authoritarian political system, in which former intelligence [...]

Russian Energy Policy Toward Neighboring Countries

Congressional Research Service http://opencrs.com/document/RL34201/ [Abstract] Russian oil and natural gas industries have become key players in the global energy market, particularly in Europe and Eurasia. Another trend has been the concentration of these industries in the hands of the Russian government. This latter phenomenon has been accompanied by an authoritarian political system, in which former intelligence [...]

Severe Thunderstorms and Tornadoes in the United States

Congressional Research Service http://opencrs.com/document/R40097/ [Abstract]  Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes affect communities across the United States every year,  causing fatalities, destroying property and crops, and disrupting businesses. Tornadoes are the most destructive products of severe thunderstorms, and second only to flash flooding as the cause for most thunderstorm-related fatalities. Damages from violent tornadoes seem to be increasing, [...]

Energy Projects on Federal Lands : Leasing and Authorization

Congressional Research Service http://opencrs.com/document/R40806/ [Abstract] A variety of statutes and agency regulations govern leasing and permitting for energy projects, including oil and natural gas development as well as alternative energy projects, on federal lands. This report explains the legal framework for energy leasing and development on federal lands. The report reviews laws and regulations affecting [...]

The Economic Effects of Legislation to Reduce Greenhouse-Gas Emissions

Congressional Budget Office http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/105xx/doc10573/09-17-Greenhouse-Gas.pdf [From the CBO Director's Blog]  For example, CBO concludes that the cap-and-trade provisions of H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, would reduce GDP below what it would otherwise have been—by roughly ¼ to ¾ percent in 2020 and by between 1 and 3½ percent in 2050. [...]

Technology in the UN Climate Change Negotiations: Moving Beyond Abstraction

Belfer Center, Kennedy School, Harvard University Policy Brief / by Morgan Bazilian http://tinyurl.com/yacakdu [Abstract] This brief considers the technology negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) within the wider context of low-carbon energy technology. In doing so, it focuses on how technology issues can be effectively embedded within a potential agreement [...]

Transforming Energy Innovation

Issues in Science and Technology (forthcoming Fall 2009, v26 n1 pp. 57-64) by Venkatesh “Venky” Narayanamurti, Laura Diaz Anadon and Ambuj D. Sagar [published elsewhere on the Belfer Center website as, "Institutions for Energy Innovation: A Transformational Challenge" .] http://tinyurl.com/ydx8r78 [Abstract] “The United States must change the way it produces and uses energy by shifting [...]

An Expanded Three-Part Architecture for Post-2012 International Climate Policy

Belfer Center, Kennedy School, Harvard University Discussion Paper / by Shelia M. Olmstead and Robert N. Stavins http://tinyurl.com/y9k2m73 [Abstract]  We describe the major features of a post-2012 international global climate policy architecture with three essential elements: a means to ensure that key industrialized and developing nations are involved in differentiated but meaningful ways; an emphasis [...]