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Updated June 15, 2007
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The literature on the causes, consequences, and policy responses concerning climate change is vast. The following is a brief introduction, with emphasis on sources that are available on the web and sources that focus on issues relevant for U.S. policy. To offer a manageable drink from the fountain rather than a firehose of completeness, much excellent material has been omitted.
On the causes and consequences of climate change
For the most comprehensive international reports on the causes and possible consequences of climate change, see the results of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change at http://www.ipcc.ch
These reports have framed much of the debate; however, the U.S. government has also periodically asked the National Academy of Sciences to investigate particular issues. For several of their most important reports, see:
For more on the impacts of climate change in the United States see
For the impact of climate change on human health, see:
For one of several research groups engaged in the integrated study of the scientific, economic, and policy aspects of climate change, see:
For more eclectic and highly opinionated accounts, here are two particularly active and irreverent sources:
On the economic costs of controlling emissions
When Kyoto was taking shape there were many efforts to model the economic consequences. "The Costs of the Kyoto Protocol: A Multi-Model Evaluation," a far-ranging and systematic intercomparison of model results in Stanford University's Energy Modeling Forum (EMF), provides a good introduction to the results.
The EMF also contributed heavily to the IPCC reports (cited above), and chapters in the report from IPCC Working Group #3 provide overviews of the issues and introduce in detail some of the controversies in economic modeling.
A key issue in assessing possible costs of control is the future structure of the world and regional energy systems. Here are two reports on that:
Expectations about the prices and acceptability of major fuels will have a large impact on the cost of controlling carbon. For more, see the following:
For more information on developing emissions trading systems, see:
On innovation and the design of technology policies
Most of the relevant literature on technology policy is not written with the climate change problem in mind, as the question of whether and how the government can successfully intervene in the process of innovation is a generic one. For some windows into that literature see:
For such work focused specifically on energy, see:
On international cooperation
Key international agreements (the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Kyoto Protocol), information on activities under those agreements see:
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and links to government-reported data on emissions
On the Prototype Carbon Fund, which aims to jump start the CDM
On the design of international architectures
There is a large and growing literature on international "architectures" or "regimes" to address climate change. Much of it is based on analogies with other areas of international cooperation on environmental and economic problems as well as analogies with policy instruments that have been used to address national environmental problems, such as the sulfur dioxide emission trading program used in the United States. For some windows into that huge literature see:
On public attitudes
There have been many polls on climate change policy, and poll data requires careful interpretation. The best introduction to the results and sensitivity to issues such as the framing of questions is the Program on International Policy Attitudes. Also see:
In addition, researchers have struggled with the question of how to frame information about complex and uncertain scientific issues so that it is comprehensible and conveyed accurately. For the fullest project in this spirit, see:
On political activism
There are many organizations large and small with a view on what is happening with the climate and how policymakers in the United States (and other countries) should respond. Here is a sampling of the field:
On U.S. government policies and approaches and environmental issues in the 2004 presidential campaign
For information on the presidential candidates' stance on environmental issues, see:
President Bush has spoken about climate change issues several times: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/environment/
In the Bush administration, the Council on Environmental Quality has played a central role in formulating policy on climate change.
The foreign policy aspects see the Department of State Global Issues office.
The 2003 Climate Stewardship Act (Senate Resolution 139) sponsored by Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman, and analysis of the resolution.
For more on the organization of U.S. investment in climate science see:
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Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
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The report of this bipartisan Task Force of distinguished leaders and experts represents a strong consensus on the importance of repairing America's immigration policy. It makes the case that maintaining America's political and economic leadership depends on attracting talented and hard-working immigrants, and on securing the country's borders in a smart, effective, and humane way.
This report finds that nuclear weapons will remain a fundamental element of U.S. national security in the near term, and makes recommendations on how to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. deterrent nuclear force, prevent nuclear terrorism, and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
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Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
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