| The Kyoto Protocol |
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| In 1997, 170 countries met in Kyoto, Japan, to negotiate an extension of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) that would impose mandatory reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. Negotiations stalled over the relative amount of reductions each country would be responsible for.In the end, a compromise was worked out by which Japan was to reduce emissions by six percent, the United States by 7 percent, and the European Union by 8 percent. Other industrialized countries, with a few exceptions, were required to reduce their emissions within a similar range. The plan under which the emissions reductions were to carried out was called the Kyoto Protocol.More... |
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| Endangered Species Act and Land Use Planning |
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| The Endangered Species Act of 1973 was enacted to conserve endangered and threatened species and their ecosystems. Construction and land use are directly impacted by the Act. With respect to construction contracts with the federal government, the Act directs that a biological assessment be made to ensure that no action will be taken that would jeopardize the existence of a threatened or endangered species or would harm their habitat. More... |
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| Ground-level Ozone |
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| Ground-level ozone is one of the six common pollutants--referred to by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as "criteria pollutants"--for which the EPA sets air quality standards under the mandates of the Clean Air Act. Although ground-level ozone is the same substance as the stratospheric ozone that blocks out much of the sun's harmful radiation, at ground level any benefits that ozone may provide in blocking radiation are substantially offset by its negative health and environmental effects.More... |
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| Nitrogen oxides |
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| Nitrogen oxides are a group of gases made up of various combinations of nitrogen and oxygen. Together, the nitrogen oxides are treated together as one of the six common pollutants--referred to by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as "criteria pollutants"--for which the EPA sets air quality standards under the mandates of the Clean Air Act. Nitrogen oxides are emitted into the atmosphere as a byproduct of fuel combustion of all kinds.More... |
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| The Clean Air Rules of 2004 |
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| The Clear Skies Initiative, in the form of legislation called the Clear Skies Act of 2003, has floundered in Congress. Because of the lack of progress in passing the bill, the Bush administration proposed several rules for promulgation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which the EPA collectively calls the Clean Air Rules of 2004. The rules do not require congressional approval because they are authorized under the Clean Air Act. More... |
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