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Discusses the problem of how to amass and organize large volumes of global change research data. Public policy issues relating to U.S. data and information management, technological challenges, proposed digital data generation and collection activities, and other data management activities are covered. (58 references) (KRN)

Updated October 10, 2006 Summary The Bush Administration requested $137.2 billion in federal research and development (R&D) funding for FY2007. This sum represents a 2.6% increase over the estimated $133.7 […]

Summary In 1968, Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This program called for the federal government to help cover costs of flood damages, creating a structure that assigned […]

The article focuses on the action plan of former U.S. President George Bush in December 2005, which aims to expand early warning network and tsunami detection in the country. Topics discussed include the approval of the U.S. Congress on the plan of Bush, the discussion between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Homeland Security on the development of a multi-hazard and response system, and the expectation on the costs of the project.

The Bush Administration has requested $142.7 billion in federal research and development (R&D) funding for FY2008.As in the recent past, the FY2008 proposed increase over the FY2007 funding level is due to significant funding increases in the Department of Defense (DOD); the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) space vehicles development program; and the continuation of the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI). The President initiated the ACI in FY2007 and continues to promote it in his FY2008 R&D budget. While the ACI is likely to be well received by lawmakers, other administration proposals for agency R&D funding are likely to encounter strong opposition in Congress. For example, the administration's proposed budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is $28.5 billion, a decrease of $529 million (1.8%) below the estimated 2007 funding level. This proposed level represents the fifth year in a row the administration has proposed cutting NIH's budget. While NASA's R&D budget would increase in FY2008, the entire increase is designated for two major initiatives: finishing the international space station and developing the crew launch vehicle/crew exploration vehicle combination. However, as a result of these priorities, funding for NASA's basic and applied research programs has declined 18% since FY2006. Funding for the Department of Defense is proposed to increase by $765 million to $79 billion in FY2008. DOD's weapons development program would increase to an all time high of $68.1 billion. However, DOD's science and technology research programs, which include medical research and technology development, would decline 21.1% to $10.9 billion dollars, which would negate seven years of past funding increases. R&D funding for the U.S. Geological Survey, the lead science agency for the Department of the Interior is proposed to decline 4% in FY2008. The Environmental Protection Agency's R&D budget is proposed to be cut 3.2% from its estimated FY2007 funding level. As a result, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, funding for EPA's R&D budget would fall to its lowest level in two decades, in constant FY2007 dollars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Congress appropriated $5 million in FY2000 for a Flood Map Modernization Fund (FMMF), the eventual source of funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) long-term effort to modernize the nation's flood map program. As part of the Flood Map Modernization Initiative (FMMI), FEMA has been converting paper flood insurance rate maps (FIRMS) to digital electronic format. or DFIRMs. 1 DFIRMs contain more accurate spatial measurements and digital data associated with ~ flood risk and are developed with ageographic information system (GIs). The GIs also, facilitates periodic updating of flood maps, as required by Congress, and helps determine flood insurance rates. Many DFIRMs are now available over the Internet from FEMA. Initial FMMI funding was requested in the Veterans Administration, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act of FY2002 (P L 107-73). However, regular annual appropriations did not begin until FY2003. Since FY2004, Department of Homeland Security appropriations for FEMA have funded FMMI. To date, more than $800 million has been provided Congress has also approved supplemental spending authority for the FMMI that is offsetby internally collected flood-map-related service fees. This report will be updated as events warrant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the rest of FY2007, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the Department of Commerce is operating under a continuing resolution, P.L. 110-5 that, for the most part, funds the agency at FY2006 appropriation levels. The President has requested a total of $3.8 billion in discretionary appropriations for NOAA for FY2008. The Secretary of Commerce announced additional funding in the FY2008 budget for NOAA of $123 million that would support the President's 2004 Ocean Action Plan (OAP), and increase funding for ocean research and sustainable fisheries management. Ocean advocates argue that the funding is not enough, however. NOAA is poised to have all of its programs and activities authorized under a single law, but Congress differs about Administration-proposed authorities. For FY2008, NOAA would prioritize funding and scheduling of its satellite programs to ensure critical continuous meteorological and environmental observations and data acquisition. The mission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is "[t]o understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet the nation's economic, social, and environmental needs."1 In terms of funding, NOAA is the largest agency of the Department of Commerce (DOC) and, for FY2008, accounts for about 58% of DOC's discretionary budget request of $6.33 billion. NOAA's FY2008 budget would be funded under Title II of the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Act (hereafter, CJS Approps.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report tracks congressional appropriations action on the President's FY2006 funding request for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In addition, it discusses issues of possible congressional concern bearing on NOAA appropriations for FY2006, such as the National Ocean Policy Commission and the President's Action Plan recommendations for the agency; internal reorganization; FY2005 emergency supplemental funding for U.S. tsunami warning system upgrades for the National Weather Service; and the Administration's and Congress's proposals for a NOAA Organic Act (H.R. 50). This report will be updated as warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some in Congress are concerned about the possible vulnerability of U.S. coastal areas to tsunamis, and about the adequacy of early warning for coastal areas of the western Atlantic Ocean. This stems from the December 26, 2004, tsunami that devastated many coastal areas around the northern Indian Ocean, where few tsunami early warning systems currently operate. The tsunami was caused by a strong underwater earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake and tsunami together are estimated to have claimed as many as 300,000 lives. Affected nations, assisted by others, are pursuing multilateral efforts through the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to develop a regional tsunami detection and warning network that would guard coastal populations around the Indian Ocean. Those efforts would coincide with the United States' goal of upgrading and expanding its tsunami detection and early warning network. Some developed countries bounding the Indian Ocean region already have operating tsunami warnings systems. However, in other areas of these countries and in neighboring countries, an emergency management infrastructure to receive tsunami warnings is lacking. This leaves local officials incapable of rapidly alerting the public to evacuate or to take other safety precautions. Disaster management experts assert that an emergency management infrastructure includes not just issuing tsunami warnings, but also educating indigenous people and visitors about the potential dangers in the area; clearly communicating evacuation options; adapting to potential risks by constructing public shelters; conducting periodic evacuation drills; and producing tsunami inundation maps for guiding future land-use planning. The Bush Administration's plan for upgrading the U.S. tsunami early warning network proposed $37.5 million through 2007 to expand from six existing deepwater tsunami detection buoys to a total of 32 for the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea by 2008. The National Weather Service, which operates the program, estimated initial procurement costs to be around $24 million, excluding out-year funding for operations and maintenance. P.L. 109-13, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act of FY2005, has provided for procuring, deploying, and maintaining a comprehensive U.S. tsunami early warning network. In the 109th Congress, other legislation would support long-term operations and maintenance and add public education and adaptation. Administration officials and some in Congress consider an upgraded U.S. system the first step toward building a global capability. Although the United States' costs alone could run into millions of dollars for instrumentation and maintenance, some suggest the benefits would far outweigh the costs. Others have questioned whether the risks of tsunamis outside the Pacific Basin justify the investment. To share costs, international science agencies have suggested that global or regional warning networks could be built upon ocean data collection systems, marine data buoys, tide gauge networks, regional coastal and ocean observation networks, and global telecommunications systems. A global warning network would be most useful in countries that also have expansive national emergency management capability. This report is updated as warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Marine Resources and Engineering Development Act of 1966 (P.L. 89-454) stated U.S. marine policy objectives, created a National Council on Marine Resources and Engineering Development, and set up a presidential Commission on Marine Science, Engineering, and Resources (called the Stratton Commission after its chairman, Dr. Julius Stratton). The commission's 1969 final report, Our Nation and the Sea: A Plan for National Action, contained recommendations that led to reorganizing federal ocean programs by establishing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), beginning new ocean programs, and strengthening existing ones. By the late 1980s, however, 20 years after the Stratton Commission, a number of influential voices among the executive, congressional, and public sectors had concluded that ocean management by the United States was fragmented and characterized by a confusing array of laws, regulations, and practices at the federal, state, and local levels. Moreover, it seemed that various agencies charged with implementing and enforcing legal regimes had mandates that often conflicted, with no mechanism for establishing a common vision and objectives. Support coalesced around the need for a congressional mandate to establish a National Oceans Policy Commission, sometimes called a Stratton II Commission, guided by four principles: sustaining the economic benefits of the oceans; strengthening global security; exploring and understanding the oceans; and preserving and protecting ocean resources while encouraging their enlightened use. Legislation creating such a commission was considered in the 98th, 99th, 100th, and 105th Congresses, but it was not until the 106th Congress in 2000 that legislation was finally enacted to establish a U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy (P.L. 106256). Earlier in 2000, the Pew Oceans Commission, an independent group, was established and funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts to conduct a national dialogue on the policies needed to restore and protect living marine resources in U.S. waters. After several years of work, the Pew Commission released its final report in June 2003, America's Living Oceans: Charting a Course for Sea Change, outlining a national agenda for protecting and restoring our oceans. The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy convened its inaugural meeting in September 2001, and established a Science Advisory Panel plus four working groups to address issues in the areas of governance; research, education, and marine operations; stewardship; and investment and implementation. After hearing from 440 presenters in 10 cities over 11 months, the U.S. Commission published its final report in two stages. First, in April 2004, the commission released a Preliminary Report for review and comment by the nation's governors and interested stakeholders. Stage two began when the public comment period closed June 4, 2004, and the commission commenced reviewing the comments received from the governors and others. On July 22, 2004, the commission approved changes to its Preliminary Report and directed staff to prepare the final report, officially titled An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century. That report, with its recommendations on a coordinated and comprehensive national ocean policy, was delivered to the President and Congress on September 20, 2004. On December 17, 2004, the President submitted to Congress the U.S. Ocean Action Plan, his formal response to the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296) requires the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate (EPR) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to coordinate federal emergency management activities. The law consolidates federal emergency authorities and resources into EPR--but not terrorism preparedness activities, which are administered by the Border and Transportation Security Directorate within DHS. This report provides summaries of and references to the entities that constitute EPR, as well as brief statements of issues that may come before the 108th Congress. This report will be updated as significant events implementing the legislation occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Congress raised concerns about the possible vulnerability of U.S. coastal areas to tsunamis, and the adequacy of early warning for coastal areas, after a strong underwater earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, on December 26, 2004. The earthquake generated a tsunami that devastated many coastal communities around the northern Indian Ocean, and may have cost more than 250,000 lives. Officials determined then that no tsunami early warning systems operated in the Indian Ocean. In December 2005, President Bush released an action plan for expanding the U.S. tsunami detection and early warning network, which was expected to cost millions of dollars and would include building the infrastructure and maintaining its operations. Some Members of Congress argued that the benefits would far outweigh the costs; other Members questioned the probability of tsunamis outside the Pacific Basin. Long before the tsunami disaster, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the Department of Commerce envisioned "piggy backing" tsunami detection and warning instrumentation on existing marine buoys, tide gauges, and other ocean observation and monitoring systems. However, NOAA was also experimenting with a new deep water tsunami detection technology. Congress approved emergency funding in FY2005 for the President's action plan for procuring and deploying a comprehensive U.S. tsunami early detection and warning system. This meant expanding an existing six deep ocean tsunami detection buoys into a network of 39, which would be sited in the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean Basins, including the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and the Far Pacific Ocean to monitor U.S. trust territories at risk. Proponents of the NOAA program also called for funding authorization to address long-term needs of the U.S. network, such as maintenance, and to support social programs aimed at disaster preparedness and adaptation to risk. Emergency experts stressed the need for education of indigenous people and visitors about the potential dangers of tsunamis in an area; adaptation to potential risks, such as constructing public shelters; periodic evacuation drills; and informed land-use planning. Many also asserted that local officials need to be empowered to rapidly alert populations of an evacuation and to take appropriate safety precautions, even if that entailed using low-tech, high impact solutions such as sirens. With respect to tsunami disaster warnings for the United States, discussions ensued between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and NOAA about developing a multi-hazard warning and response system and, perhaps, eventually contributing to a global tsunami early warning system. Experts acknowledge that formidable challenges lay ahead in adopting standardized communications protocols and ensuring the interoperability, scope, and purpose of the diverse emergency warning alert systems used by the United States and other countries. This report will be updated as events warrant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For FY2001, the President requested $2.76 billion in appropriations for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA is the largest agency in the Department of Commerce (DOC), and received just over half of DOC's total budget for FY2001. The NOAA budget request for FY2001 was $417 million greater than FY2000 appropriations, an increase of 18%. Also, it was 10% greater than the $2.5 billion requested by President Clinton for FY2000. For FY2001, the President proposed $1.9 billion for Operations Research and Facilities (ORF), and $635 million for Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction (PAC), NOAA's two major budget divisions. Other NOAA funding totaled some $281 million, including $160 million for Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery; $100 million for a newly proposed Coastal Impact Assessment Fund; and $10 million for a Fisheries Assistance Fund. In FY2001, NOAA requested new budget authority of $30 million from collection of Navigation Services and Fisheries Management and Enforcement fees. Also, there was a slight change in the reporting structure of NOAA's budget, which had no impact on the overall request. NOAA also analyzes its annual budget request in terms of seven strategic goals for internal financial management, pursuant to the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). Commerce, State, Justice, and Judiciary Appropriations for FY2001(H.R. 4690) passed the House, amended, on June 26, 2000, approving a total budget authority of $2.23 billion for NOAA. The Senate Appropriations Committee passed H.R. 4690 with an amendment in the nature of a substitute on July 18, 2000, approving $2.69 billion for NOAA. H.R. 4690 was incorporated into H.R. 4292, on October 26, 2000; conferees added $420 million and approved $3.04 billion for NOAA. Additional funding of $61.5 million was approved in the Omnibus Appropriations bill, H.R. 4577, on December 15, 2000, amounting to a total of $3.11 billion in final budget authority for NOAA for FY2001. The House Committees on Science and Resources and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation took up authorization legislation for certain NOAA programs for FY2000 - FY2001. Hearings were held on oversight of the National Weather Service Modernization program to address charges of possible degradation of weather services that might affect public safety and weather-related property losses. In the second session of the 106th Congress, Members dealt with NOAA's FY2001 budget request, which increased funding for Presidential environmental initiatives such as: National Disaster Reduction, Land Legacy, South Florida Ecosystems Restoration, Resources Protection, Clean Water, Minority Serving Institutions, and grants proposed under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). Two new research initiatives were proposed for FY200: Climate Observation and Services and America's Ocean Future, which continues NOAA's Ocean 2000 Initiatives. Also at issue was Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery funding and Stellar sea lion protection. Three NOAA authorization bills saw legislative action in the second session. Also, the FY2001 Interior Appropriations Act (P.L. 106-291) authorized $400 million for NOAA for coastal and Great Lake conservation ''Land Legacy'' activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report is intended to guide the reader through U.S. global climate change policy from the passage of the National Climate Program Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-367) through the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) was opened for signatures. It offers a summary of scientific research on global climate change and related U.S. policy and identifies what many consider to be important milestones in the international policy debate on global climate change. Major reports are listed that have underpinned such debates and have advised international decision makers. Also, major international meetings at which the United States had diplomatic representation are included as well as a chronology that serves as historical background for CRS Issue Brief 89005: Global Climate Change, which discusses U.S. policy and activities since ratification of the FCCC, including negotiations and debate leading to the 1997 U.N. Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. This report will not be updated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopted in December 1997, by parties to the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), the [Kyoto] Protocol would require legally binding regulations on greenhouse gas emissions for most industrialized countries, if it enters into force (EIF). EIF requires 55 countries, representing at least 55% of global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), to sign the treaty and deposit an instrument of ratification with the U.N. FCCC Secretariat. The U.S. Senate has stated that it has not yet had an opportunity to consider advice and consent to ratification of the Kyoto Protocol because the Clinton Administration is trying to modify the agreement to align it, in principle, with S.Res. 98, the Byrd/Hagen resolution of July 1997, before sending it to the U.S. Capitol Hill. S.Res. 98, expressed the Senate's views regarding international regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, and stipulated that the Senate would not ratify any international treaty that does not include commitments which are comparably stringent for all FCCC parties, including developing countries which the Kyoto Protocol subsequently has exempted. In the 105th Congress, in addition to S.Res. 98, some legislation and some FY1999 appropriations bills were used as vehicles for explicit congressional direction to the executive branch about possible ''back door'' implementation of the Kyoto Protocol; that is, implementation without Senate ratification. Also, in some of the appropriations committees' reports Congress raised the question of whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has authority to regulate greenhouse gases in the face of congressional direction not to promulgate or implement further regulations without the force of legislation. In addition, Congress addressed federal research funding for climate change in some of these reports and questioned its efficacy and benefits for the American taxpayer. For FY1999, Congress approved an estimated $1.8 billion in funding for global climate change programs, including about $130 million for the President's Climate Change Technology Initiative (CCTI). Discussion of other legislation and issues relating to global climate change, may be found in Global Climate Change, CRS Issue Brief 89005, updated regularly, or in the Legislation section of the CRS Electronic Briefing Book for Congress on Global Climate change. This report will not be updated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is difficult to ascribe a starting point for U.S. involvement in the issue of global climate change. The scientific theory of an ''enhanced greenhouse effect,'' resulting from industrial air pollution is now a hundred years old. Since the late 1950s, scientists within the ranks of the U.S. federal government have participated in scientific workshops and international conferences on the nature of Earth's climate system and the role of carbon dioxide (C02) and other greenhouse gases that are believed to modify the global climate. Extensive involvement of the U.S. government from the perspective of formulating U.S. policy and assuming a diplomatic role in international debates, which relate to this issue, probably began in earnest around 1978, with efforts to coordinate federal government activities in research into global climate change. Various activities since helped to achieve the first international agreement aimed at controlling greenhouse gases, the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which sought voluntary controls on emissions by industrialized countries. In the ongoing international policy debate, attention has been turned to the post -2000 period, and what actions may be necessary to protect the climate to prevent possible economic and environmental disruption. The historical context of the current debate is important in understanding the fundamental issues about global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report is intended to help the reader follow changes over time in regulations domestic and international - governing methyl bromide for its potential ozone-depleting effects. Methyl bromide, like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), has been implicated by scientists in contributing to stratospheric ozone depletion, which may pose health threats to living organisms due to increased exposure to harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Methyl bromide is currently used widely as a pesticide in international agricultural commerce. Production, consumption and trade of this substance is regulated internationally under the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances which Deplete the Ozone layer and subsequent amendments and, in the United States, under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, amended (1993). The U.S. Congress is concerned that domestic regulations, which require a more accelerated phase out of production and consumption of methyl bromide than international regulations, may provide an economic advantage for countries which continue to produce and use this substance after it has been phased out in the United States. Hearings have been held by Congress on behalf of the U.S. agricultural community, to consider whether U.S. regulations might be made more consistent with international regulations, and authority has been sought in existing law for special use exemptions for agriculture. With evolving science, regulations have changed over time to reflect improvement in knowledge about methyl bromide's potential ozone-depleting effects. Also, regulatory responsibilities for industrialized countries other than the United States and, more recently, developing countries have changed, but are still less stringent than domestic regulations, posing an issue for U.S. agricultural trade. Methyl bromide, an agricultural fumigant whose atmospheric decomposition products are believed to be harmful to the stratospheric ozone layer, was first listed for control under the 1992 Amendments to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances. Methyl bromide is used as a soil fumigant for treatment of plant disease and pest infestation during cultivation, and is applied as an insecticide or fungicide on grains, fruits, nuts and other organic non-foodstuffs, such as wood products and flowers, in storage facilities or transport containers prior to shipping, or after shipping at agricultural quarantine facilities. Because scientists found methyl bromide to have a potentially high ozone depletion factor, the United States identified it as a Class I ozone-depleting substance under Title VI of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (amended 1993), whereby production of it would be phased out within 7 years, at the end of the year 2000. Since 1992, control measures on methyl bromide have undergone change, both domestically and internationally, reflecting new scientific knowledge about its ozone depleting potential and the projected economic impact of phasing it out on agricultural trade.(1) There have been formal discussions and congressional hearings in the United States on creating waivers for ''essential uses'' of methyl bromide beyond its currently scheduled domestic phase-out date of Jan. 1, 2001, in the event that undue economic hardship occur for farmers who do not have effective alternative substances or technologies. U.S. lawmakers are also concerned about different requirements for phase out, domestically and internationally, as well as waivers granted some countries to continue to produce and use methyl bromide domestically for ''basic needs.'' All regulations thus far have exempted methyl bromide used for quarantine and pre-shipment treatment of agricultural commodities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The second session of the Conference of Parties (COP-2) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) convened July 8-19, 1996, in Geneva, Switzerland. On July 18, 1996, the Ministers and other heads of delegations present at COP-2 crafted and released a Ministerial Declaration, also called The Geneva Declaration. It was based on a U.S. policy statement delivered July 17th at COP-2 which: 1) recognized and endorsed the Second Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) as currently the most comprehensive and authoritative assessment of the science of climate change, 2) called for parties to set ''legally binding, medium-term targets'' for limitations and significant overall reductions of their emissions of greenhouse gases, and 3) rejected commitments for developed country parties regarding ''common or harmonized'' policies and measures in favor of flexibility in applying policies and measures to achieve emissions limitations and reductions. The Chairman of COP-2 called for FCCC parties to ''take note'' of the Ministerial Declaration, and to agree as a body to consider a ''future decision [containing these elements] which would be legally binding on all parties under the FCCC.'' Some in the U.S. Congress have voiced concerns about the principles of common but differentiated commitments and responsibilities, as well as respective capabilities, under FCCC for developed versus developing countries. Specifically, questions have been raised about whether continued adherence to these principles in any protocol or other legal instrument negotiated for the post-2000 period could disadvantage the United States economically and competitively in world markets. Among some Members and the committees of relevant jurisdiction in the House and Senate, a need has been expressed to be better informed about what exactly the United States potentially may be agreeing to during the current Analysis and Assessment Phase called for in the Framework Convention's 1995 Berlin Mandate, as well as what the economic impact would be of future decisions the United States might make vis a vis other FCCC parties in future climate protection negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]