THE WHITE HOUSE WASH I NGTON October 6 2000 h h MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT FROM ROGER BALLENTINE RE OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES WEEKLY Climate Change Press Science and Industry Energy efficiency standards for air conditioners will increase by 20 percent under a new DOE rule the last in a series of appliance-related standards that included heat pumps water heaters refrigerators and fluorescent lamps These standards will save 2 4 quads of energy by 2010 the equivalent of providing lighting for all U S households for two years and will reduce U S greenhouse gas emissions by 21 million metric tons of carbon or more than 1 3% of all U S emissions Oil companies around the world are increasing investments in renewable and alternative energy The Wall StreetJournal reported 10 4 British Petroleum and Shell each plan investments of between $500 million and $1 billion over the next few years Texaco the U S oil company most aggressively seeking alternative energy sources is investing primarily in development offuels cells An iceberg the size of Connecticut has splintered offthe Ross Ice Shelfin Antarctica part of an “increased amount of iceberg calving” according to NASA scientists and reported by CNN ABC and others 10 5 Researchers are not certain about the cause but think global warming may play a role The sun’s contribution to global warming may be overstated in some climate models according to scientists from the European Space Agency “From 1970 on the main influence on global warming has been human activity ” researchers stated “All evidence suggests that it’s greenhouse rather than solar forcing that’s the problem ” The Kyoto Protocol U S climate negotiators held four separate ministerial meetings in Europe this week with the EU the African Ministers other G-77 ministers and our Umbrella Group allies to set the stage for the next major round of negotiations -- COP-6 - in The Hague in mid-November We seem to be making some progress with the EU in trying to balance the need for environmentally sound rules with the need to make the Kyoto Protocol as inexpensive as is feasible The Europeans continued to press their concern that our desire to take full advantage ofthe flexibility meehanisms and to make extensive use ofsinks will undermine the requirement for the U S to take strong domestic action The G-77 under the very aggressive leadership ofNigeria again threatened to block agreement at COP-6 iftheir demands are not met These demands include that developed countries provide them with new financial resources and transfer oftechnology as well as compensation for oil producing nations for any reduced global demand for their products Clearly seeking commitments for any additional developing country actions to fight climate change at COP-6 remains enormously challenging Legislative On Tuesday October 3 Senator James Inhofe R-OK Representatives Joseph Knollenberg R MI and Jo Ann Emerson R-MO joined by several conservative interest groups filed a lawsuit against YOU and Neal Lane in an attempt to prevent final publication ofthe National Assessment ofthe potential consequences of climate change for the United States The assessment which was mandated by Congress and tasked to the National Science and Technology Council NSTC of OSTP is in the final stages ofrevision after three years of workshops research and analyses The suit charges that the assessment process violated various aspects ofthe Federal Advisory Committee Act and the U S Global Change Research Act of 1990 the authorizing legislation ofthe U S Global Change Research Program On the appropriations front we are doing fairly well In Energy and Water we got an overall increase from FYOO of 20% for renewable energy and other Climate Change Technology Initiative CCTI accounts In the Interior Bill we secured a 10% increase over FYOO for our energy conservation and efficiency programs more than half of our requested increase Our negotiations over VA-HUD appear to have yielded a 20 % increase in EPA’s climate programs over FYOO cc The Vice President John Podesta Steve Ricchetti Sandy Berger Martin Baily Chuck Brain Charles Burson George Frampton Neal Lane Robert Lawrence