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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 5, NUMBER 10, OCTOBER 1992

REPORTS...
GENERAL INTEREST AND POLICY

Item #d92oct53

The Greenhouse Gambit: Industry Responses to Climate Change, D. Cogan, 506 pp., Aug. 1992, $55 hbk./$45 pbk. + $5 shipping. Investor Responsibility Res. Ctr., 1755 Massachusetts Ave. NW, S. 600, Washington DC 20036 (202-234-7500).

This major peer-reviewed study, funded largely by the Rockefeller Foundation, finds that most American industries are taking a gamble on global warming by adopting the Bush Administration's wait-and-see approach, and are failing to hedge their bets. The gamble carries major risk, as the automobile and electric power industries are falling behind global competitors in providing technologies suitable for a greenhouse world, and the agriculture and forest products industries may have difficulty adapting if climate patterns shift. Examines the risks as well as the rewards facing these four industries if global warming and the policies to address it become reality. Industries should use market principles to spur the development of new technologies to offset climate change, which could have benefits even if climate does not change.

Item #d92oct54

Climate Change: Designing a Tradeable Permit System, 282 pp., Sep. 1992, $31/£18. OECD.

Contains technical papers discussed at the first of two expert workshops organized by OECD on market-based approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They draw on experience with tradeable permits systems in resolving other environmental problems, and review key design problems likely to be encountered. A second volume on the use of taxes is forthcoming.

Item #d92oct55

Science Responds to Environmental Threats. 1. Country Studies, 456 pp., $58/£32; 2. Synthesis Report, 142 pp., $18/£10. Both Sep. 1992. OECD.

Results of a project on the responsiveness of scientific and technological institutions to environmental change. The country studies, focusing on Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the U.K., illustrate broader trends in the OECD area and provide data not usually available to scientists, environmentalists and policy makers. Ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect are major topics.

Item #d92oct56

Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 1991 (WMO Global Ozone Res. & Monitoring Proj. Rep. No. 25), 250 pp., 1992. Available from Ozone Secretariat, World Meteor. Org., POB 2300, Geneva 10, Switz., or contact Earth Sci. & Applic. Div., NASA, 300 E St. SW, Washington DC 20546. (See News Notes, this GCCD issue--Oct. 1992.)

Item #d92oct57

Policy Implications of Greenhouse Warming: Mitigation, Adaptation, and the Science Base, 944 pp., Aug. 1992, $89.95 + $3 shipping. Natl. Acad. Press, 2101 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington DC 20418 (800-624-6242 or 202-334-3313). (See News Notes, this GCCD issue--Oct. 1992.)

Item #d92oct58

Green Lights Program: The First Year (EPA/401/1-92/003), 22 pp., Feb. 1992. Available (no charge) from Green Lights Prog., Global Change Div. (6202J), U.S. EPA, 401 M St. SW, Washington DC 20460 (202-775-6650).

Summarizes the program's success in encouraging major U.S. businesses, governments and other organizations to use energy-efficient lighting. In the first year, savings of 53 million pounds of CO₂ emissions were achieved by 40 participants. Describes case studies, and assistance available to potential new participants.

Item #d92oct59

A Climate for Investment: How the U.S. Can Stabilize CO₂ Emissions through Profitable Measures the White House Already Supports, D.A. Lashof, D.D. Doniger, 12 pp., Mar. 1992, no charge. Natural Resour. Defense Council, 1350 New York Ave. NW, S. 300, Washington DC 20005 (202-783-7800).

Analyzes emissions reductions that can be achieved by effectively implementing a portion of the actions listed in the Bush Administration's document, New U.S. Measures to Mitigate Climate Change, released during the recent climate treaty negotiations. Finds that emissions could be stabilized at 1990 levels by 2000, at a profit, and that the Administration's opposition to binding CO₂ targets is unwarranted.

Item #d92oct60

Perspectives on Global Climate Change: A Review of the Adaptation and Mitigation Approaches (ENR 92-09), P.M. Morrisette, 1992, $5. Resources for the Future: RFF Publications, 1616 P St. NW, Washington DC 20036 (202-328-5086).

Two current, contrasting views of climate change, whether to adapt in the future or mitigate change in the present, represent a polarization based more on values than on the technical or conceptual merits of various policy options. Discusses the background of these views and what they have in common. Suggests the need for a new way of conceptualizing the problem that more fully captures the range of perspectives.

Item #d92oct61

Global Climate Change: State Policy Development Amid Scientific Uncertainty, 41 pp., 1990, $10. Nat. Conf. of State Legislatures, 1560 Broadway, S. 700, Denver CO 80202 (303-830-2054).

Results of a two-year project. Summarizes selected state legislation on issues such as energy efficiency and CFC regulation.