Government Documents for You

Falk, Justin. Nuclear Power’s Role in Generating Electricity. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Budget Office, 2008. SUDOC: Y 10.2/N 88/4

Concerns about the adequacy of electricity supply and the impact of greenhouse-gas emissions on the environment have prompted policymakers to reevaluate the role that nuclear power might play in the future in meeting the nation’s demand for electricity. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) offers incentives for expanding utilities’ capacity to generate electricity using innovative fossil-fuel technologies and a new generation of nuclear reactors that are designed to decrease costs and enhance safety. In addition, policymakers are considering various proposals that would impose charges on entities that emit carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas. Such policies could further encourage the use of nuclear power, which emits no such gases, by increasing the cost of generating electricity with competing fossil-fuel technologies.

At the request of the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) assessed the competitiveness of nuclear power when compared with other sources of new capacity to generate electricity, focusing on the possible effects of constraints on carbon dioxide emissions and the impact of EPAct incentives. In accordance with CBO’s mandate to provide objective, impartial analysis, this study makes no recommendations.

This document is available online: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS93787

**Text taken from Preface of the document**

Policy Options for Reducing CO₂ Emissions. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Budget Office, 2008. SUDOC: Y 10.2:P 75/6

There is a growing scientific consensus that rising concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases, which result from the burning of fossil fuels, are gradually warming the Earth’s climate. The amount of damage associated with that warming remains uncertain, but there is some risk that it could be large and perhaps even catastrophic.

Reducing that risk would require restraining the growth of CO2 emissions—and ultimately limiting those emissions to a level that would stabilize atmospheric concentrations—which would involve costs that are also uncertain but could be substantial. The most efficient approaches to reducing emissions of CO2 involve giving businesses and households an economic incentive for such reductions. Such an incentive could be provided in various ways, including a tax on emissions, a cap on the total annual level of emissions combined with a system of tradable emission allowances, or a modified cap-and-trade program that includes features to constrain the cost of emission reductions that would be undertaken in an effort to meet the cap.

This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study was prepared at the request of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and compares policy options based on three key criteria: their potential to reduce emissions efficiently; to be implemented with relatively low administrative costs; and to create incentives for emission reductions that are consistent with incentives in other countries. In keeping with the mandate of the CBO to provide objective, impartial analysis, the report contains no recommendations.

This document is available online: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS90587

**Part of this entry is taken from the Preface of the document**

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has released it newest report - "Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World." This is the 4th unclassified report from the National Intelligence Council in the past few years that gives a long-term view of the future.

**Statement from the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council**

"Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World" is the fourth unclassified report prepared by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) in recent years that takes a long-term view of the future. It offers a fresh look at how key global trends might develop over the next 15 years to influence world events. Our report is not meant to be an exercise in prediction or crystal ball-gazing. Mindful that there are many possible "futures," we offer a range of possibilities and potential discontinuities, as a way of opening our minds to developments we might otherwise miss.

Some of our preliminary assessments are highlighted below:

* The whole international system—as constructed following WWII—will be revolutionized. Not only will new players—Brazil, Russia, India and China— have a seat at the international high table, they will bring new stakes and rules of the game.

* The unprecedented transfer of wealth roughly from West to East now under way will continue for the foreseeable future.

* Unprecedented economic growth, coupled with 1.5 billion more people, will put pressure on resources—particularly energy, food, and water—raising the specter of scarcities emerging as demand outstrips supply.

* The potential for conflict will increase owing partly to political turbulence in parts of the greater Middle East.

As with the earlier NIC efforts—such as Mapping The Global Future 2020—the project's primary goal is to provide US policymakers with a view of how world developments could evolve, identifying opportunities and potentially negative developments that might warrant policy action. We also hope this paper stimulates a broader discussion of value to educational and policy institutions at home and abroad.

This and the other reports are available from
http://www.dni.gov/nic/NIC_2025_project.html

Latest Report: Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World --
http://www.dni.gov/nic/PDF_2025/2025_Global_Trends_Final_Report.pdf

Earlier Reports:

Mapping the Global Future: Report of the National Intelligence Council's 2020 Project
http://www.foia.cia.gov/2020/2020.pdf

GLOBAL TRENDS 2015: A Dialogue About the Future With Nongovernment Experts
http://www.dni.gov/nic/PDF_GIF_global/globaltrend2015.pdf

Global Trends 2010
http://www.dni.gov/nic/special_globaltrends2010.html

Post on GovDoc-L from: Greta E. Marlatt, Information Services Manager & Homeland Security Digital Library Content Manager, Dudley Knox Library, Naval Postgraduate School

The Energy Star Challenge: Build a Better World 10% at a Time. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, 2007.
SUDOC: EP 1.2:EN 2/27/TOOLKIT

This toolkit teaches users how they can be part of the ENERGY STAR Challenge by helping improve the energy efficiency of America’s commercial and industrial buildings by 10% or more. Users will learn how to: measure and track energy use; develop a plan for energy improvements; make energy efficiency upgrades; and help spread the energy efficiency word to others. Another great feature of the toolkit is that users can learn more about energy efficiency for specific building types. The Fast Facts section provides useful statistics to help understand the important role commercial and industrial buildings play in global climate change.

Information available on the Internet: http://www.energystar.gov

OpenCRS.com provides a directory of websites where you can find almost 4,000 CRS reports. Included in the directory is the National Council for Science and the Environment, Federation of American Scientists, Thurgood Marshall Law Library/University of Maryland School of Law, National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, and the Center for Democracy & Technology.

This website is available at: http://opencrs.com/

The Government Documents Department at the University of North Texas, in collaboration with the University of Texas and Oklahoma State University, also has CRS reports available to the public.

This collection is available at: http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/

Experimental Forests and Ranges. [Portland, Or.?] : Pacific Northwest Research Station, [2008].
SUDOC: A 13.66/2:EX 7

The USDA Forest Service’s system of Experimental Forests and Ranges provides an incredible wealth of records and knowledge of environmental change in natural and managed forest and rangeland ecosystems across the United States. The present system of 78 Experimental Forests and Ranges has been established progressively since 1908; many sites are more than 50 years old. The system provides places for long-term science and management studies in major vegetation types of the 195 million acres of public land administered by the Forest Service. Individual sites range from 47 to 22,500 ha in size.

This is a map showing the location of the Experimental Forests and Ranges. The map also provides a brief chronology of the program and a description for some of these forests and ranges.

**Description taken from the Thurgood Marshall Law Library website**

The Congressional Research Service, an arm of the Library of Congress, serves the legislative process by providing Congress with non-partisan and in-depth legislative research and analysis on a variety of topics. CRS produces or updates more than 3,000 studies and other publications each year, none of which are distributed to the public. Because CRS reports are created using public money and are not readily accessible to the research community, the Thurgood Marshall Law Library has created an online collection in the subject areas of Homeland Security/Terrorism and Health Law and Policy.

http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/crsreports/index.html?AlphaStart=R