Bush Administration Global Change Policy: It’s Evolution and Present Status Warren M. Washington NCAR

Context President Bush is the United States “Commander in Chief” for the war on Terrorism There are still substantial concerns about the administration views on climate policy. Administration asked National Academy of Sciences to review the IPCC report. Connections between Middle East policy and environmental policies Polls on environmental policy…my talk to oil and gas CEOs on day of terrorism

Facts and Connections 178 countries versus U.S. Bush …Kyoto Treaty is “fatally flawed” Scientists agree that treaty has flaws and is unrealistic in many ways Administration is committed to finding solutions Kyoto Treaty is more a commitment to solutions than “the” solution Terrorism-Middle East Crisis-Oil-Energy- Editorial

Proposed Bush Administration Plan for Climate Modeling Bush - “develop state-of-the-art climate modeling that will help us better understand the causes and impacts of climate change” National Academy of Science Studies of the successes and problems Work with international partners Proposed establishment of two complementary high-end research centers

Two Centers Approach One a high-end research center-broad multi- disciplinary community-Community Based Research Center with connections to universities and federal laboratories Second being focus on products generation for assessment, and policy applications - GFDL-NCEP-ERL- Joint Institutes Limited funding…secret plan

Workshop on Rapid and Severe Climate Change – 9 October 2001 Technological response options and research needs National Climate Change Technology Initiative (NCCTI) Report to the President due January 2002 Discussion with White House Science Advisor

Various Geoengineering Schemes if Climate Changes > 0.5 C/Decade Engineered Stratospheric Scatters Stratospheric Aerosols Increased Cloud Albedo or Amount Increased Surface Albedo Ocean Slicks…Moderating Hurricanes Altering Polar Energy Balance..Sea Ice Altering Ocean Currents..Sustain Thermohaline Circulation Insulating Greenland and Antarctica Polar Caps

NCCTI Goals Evaluate current U.S. Climate change Technology R&D Develop private-public partnerships Recommend demonstration projects of cutting-edge technologies Strengthen research at universities and laboratories

Global to Local - Courtesy of NASA

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