Some Comments on S.1008: Amendments to the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to Develop the United States Climate Change Response Strategy

I find S.1008 to be a well conceived, well drafted, timely, and important piece of legislation. Many of the thrusts of the bill -- particularly (a) recognition of the key role of technological innovation in energy in ameliorating greenhouse-gas-related risks to the stability of global climate, (b) commitment to a substantial increase in Federal funding of energy R&D, (c) increased focusing of the Federal R&D effort on possibilities for breakthrough technologies, (d) creation of mechanisms for greater coordination of energy-related research and development across agencies and sectors, and (e) commitment to an enhanced degree of international cooperation and coordination with respect to energy-technology innovation that can abate climate-change risks -- parallel some of the main findings and recommendations of the three energy R&D studies I chaired for PCAST in the late 1990s (7-9). I hope that something very much like this bill will be enacted into law.