National Climate Program Act
The National Climate Program Act, signed into law on September 17, 1978, established a coordinated framework for climate research and policy in the United States. It emerged in response to increasing concerns about climate patterns following a cooling period in the early 1970s, with previous legislative attempts failing due to disagreements among key organizations. The act created the National Climate Program (NCP) and outlined the roles of several government agencies, primarily the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in conducting research and providing climate-related data.
Significantly, the NCP engages in monitoring climate change, predicting weather patterns, and assessing the impacts on resources such as water and agriculture. It collaborates with academic institutions and international organizations to enhance understanding and response strategies for climate issues. Despite initial funding challenges that limited its effectiveness, the NCP eventually contributed valuable data that informed policy decisions regarding global warming. Over the years, various amendments and proposals have sought to enhance the act's scope, including recent efforts aimed at establishing a national climate service. The act remains relevant as climate change continues to be a contentious and critical issue in U.S. policy discussions.
National Climate Program Act
- DATE: Signed into law September 17, 1978
The National Climate Program Act created an interagency program that conducts climate research, provides climate information, and supports policy decisions in the United States.
Background
Following a period of reduced global average temperatures in the early 1970s, and growing out of years of effort by groups of climatologists, several bills were introduced in the U.S. Congress to coordinate climate research, prediction, and planning. One such bill, the National Climate Program Bill of 1975, failed to pass. Two years later, U.S. representative George Brown of California introduced the National Climate Program Bill of 1977, but it also failed, largely because of disagreements between the American Association of State Climatologists and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) over funding priorities. Finally, in 1978, Congress passed the National Climate Program Act, and it was signed by President Jimmy Carter on September 17, 1978.
Summary of Provisions
The National Climate Program Act (Public Law 367 of the Ninety-Fifth Congress), called for the establishment of the National Climate Program (NCP), as well as the Climate Program Advisory Committee and the Climate Program Policy Board. These entities are to issue periodic reports and plans to “assist the Nation and the world to understand and respond to natural and human-induced climate processes and their implications.” The act required the secretary of commerce to establish a National Climate Program Office that would coordinate efforts and develop a series of research and climate services, drawing together the strengths of NOAA and other governmental agencies. These responsibilities were delegated to NOAA. The Department of the Interior and its U.S. Geological Survey are among the other agencies assigned specific roles under the NCP.
Significance for Climate Change
The NOAA Climate Program conducts research and monitoring related to climate, climate change, and climate impact. It gathers and manages data from surface, marine, upper-air, and satellite observations; issues monthly and seasonal predictions of temperature, precipitation, and other weather indicators; predicts the impact of on water resources, including fisheries, crop irrigation, and energy demands; and conducts new research. Five divisions of NOAA contribute to these efforts: the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service; the National Marine Fisheries Service; the National Ocean Service; the National Weather Service; and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.
Several climate projects under NOAA have yielded important results. Under the direction of the NOAA administration, the United States is part of the Group on Earth Observations, an international organization developing the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), which will collect and manage data around the world. NCP awards grants and fellowships for outside research on the Arctic, on atmospheric composition and climate, on the global climate cycle, and other topics. It also operates the Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments program, a partnership with American universities to connect with local and regional researchers and policymakers. The Climate Program Office operates separate divisions for climate observations, research, climate assessments and services, planning, and communications and education.
Although the 1978 act established the National Climate Program Office, the office received only a few million dollars of funding, so for its first five years the program accomplished little. No climate-related bills were introduced in the year after passage of the act, and in 1980 most of the funding for climate research was canceled as a result of a budget crisis. By 1984, pilot programs and new structures, including a strongly linked network of regional monitoring centers, enabled the NCP to produce and disseminate useful climate data. These data were essential in the growing national and international understanding of the causes and the effects of global warming.
As policymakers became more interested in global warming, they were unable to make use of much of the pure science that NCP was conducting, and they pressed for more information in forms that would help them draft policy. In response, in 1990 Congress created the United States Global Change Research Program to increase understanding of and response to global warming through research presented by NCP. Several amendments to the National Climate Program Act have been proposed since the 1980s to provide more funding, to solidify the various roles of the various agencies involved, or to require specific actions based on the data. In 2007, the Climate Change Adaptation Bill was introduced in Congress to amend the National Climate Program Act. It would require the president to draw up a strategic plan to address the impacts of global warming in the United States, and to establish a national climate service within NOAA. The bill was reported out of committee in June 2008, but no further action was taken by the 110th Congress.
Throughout the 2010s and 2020s, the world's scientific community overwhelmingly advised world governments to take action on global climate change. Despite this, climate change remained a contentious issue in the United States. Various presidential administrations enacted measures to reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. Many of these measures involved encouraging the consumers and businesses to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. In 2024, the administration of President Joe Biden worked to further reduce emissions by strengthening many of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s regulations. These included new standards for power plant emissions, new tailpipe emission standards, and increasing the payments required for oil and gas companies to utilize federal land.
Bibliography
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"EPA Announces $2.5 Million to Fund Climate and Environmental Community Action Grant as Part of Investing in America Agenda." Environmental Protection Agency, 17 Dec. 2024, www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-25-million-fund-climate-and-environmental-community-action-grant-part. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.
Gerrard, Michael. Global Climate Change and U.S. Law. Washington, D.C.: American Bar Association, 2007.
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