Additional Resources

LINKS

Video with NRDC’s Roland Hwang: Clean Cars - A Global Warming Solution

PUBLICATIONS

PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA: “PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and the Environment” (July 2007) According to the latest findings in the annual Public Policy Institute of California poll, air pollution and global warming still top Californians’ concerns and they think the state and federal governments are not doing enough to address the problem.

U.S. PIRG: "Rising to the Challenge: Six Steps to Cut Global Warming Pollution in the United States," (August 2006) A report showing that the U.S. can reduce its global warming emissions by nearly 20% by 2020 through a pedal-to-the-metal strategy to boost energy efficiency and renewable energy, paired with strong, mandatory limits on global warming emissions.

PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA: "PPIC Statewide Survey: Special Survey on the Environment" (July 2006) According to the latest findings in the annual Public Policy Institute of California poll, Californians are still very concerned about global warming and want the state to act on its own to address the problem.

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE: "Automakers' Corporate Carbon Burdens" (August 2005) This report is an update of a 2002 report that analyzes the automobile's global warming impact in terms of carbon burden, a way of measuring the annual average CO2 emissions over the life of a group of vehicles. The report highlights new vehicle CO2 emissions by automaker for the period 1990–2003.

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL and UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE: "In the Tank: How Oil Prices Threaten Automakers’ Profits and Jobs"(July 2005) This report says that sales, profits, and American jobs are at risk if Detroit automakers continue with their current strategy of relying on truck-based SUVs in the face of higher oil prices. It recommends actions that automakers, government, and investors can take to mitigate the risks.

PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA: "PPIC Statewide Survey: Special Survey on the Environment" (July 2005) Driven by concerns about how global warming will degrade their quality of life and by a profound lack of confidence in the environmental and energy tilt of the federal government, Californians want the state to act on its own to address the problem, according to a new survey by the Public Policy Institute of California.

UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: "Automaker Rankings 2004: The Environmental Performance of Car Companies" (December 2004) This biennial report uses government data to provide a quantitative analysis of automakers' environmental performance.

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE: "Automaker Carbon Burdens in California" (September 2004) This report by Environmental Defense outlines the amount of CO2 emissions produced by each automaker's 2002 vehicle fleet in California.

CALSTART: "California's Clean Vehicle Industry: How the Drive to Reduce Automotive Global Warming Pollution Can Benefit the California Economy" (September 2004) This report finds that California is a leader in the core skills needed to design and produce technologies that can reduce global warming pollution from vehicles. Moreover, as requirements to reduce this pollution grow, the companies producing these technologies stand to substantially increase their California jobs and investments.

UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: "Climate Change in California: Choosing Our Future" (September 2004) These summaries are based on the findings of "Emissions Pathways, Climate Change, and Impacts on California," published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (101:34, 2004).

E2 - NRDC: "Creating the California Cleantech Cluster: How Innovation and Investment can Promote Job Growth and a Healthy Environment" (September 2004) The cleantech industry can be a major driver for new investments and job growth in California. But while the state is ideally positioned to be a cleantech leader, focused public policy efforts are needed to create new markets and to attract additional private investment to the state.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: Emissions Pathways, climate change and impacts on California, (August 2004) This study by 19 leading climate scientists provides a powerful demonstration of how the severity of climate change impacts on California will depend on the amount of future greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion and other human activities.

UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: "Reducing Vehicular Global Warming Pollution Saves California Drivers Money" (April 2004) This report demonstrates that technology already on the road can reduce heat-trapping pollution by 20 percent for $600 per vehicle.

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE: "Exploring Greenhouse Gas Reduction Options for Automobiles" (April 2004) This report summarizes the range of technologies available for reducing global warming pollution and is based on the International Vehicle Technology Symposium held in Sacramento in March 2003.

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: "Health Effects of Climate Change" (2004) This report outlines a range of potential health effects including thermal stress, disease brought on by flood and drought, El Nino effects, increased air pollution and allergens, infectious diseases, and diseases related to insect and pest infestations. Download the pdf.

NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS: "Planning Climate and Global Change Research: A Review of the Draft U.S. Climate Change Science Program Strategic Plan" (2003) This report from the National Research Council reviews a draft strategic plan for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. The report finds that the U.S. draft plan lacks a guiding vision, clear goals, and explicit priorities. In addition, it states that the plan must more clearly show how it will support its stated goals to provide decision support and to carry out needed research on the potential impacts of climate change on human societies and ecosystems.

PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: "Degrees of Danger: How Smarter Energy Choices Can Protect Our Health in California" (2003) This report was prepared to alert California residents to the potential health effects of climate change and air pollution and how our energy choices and reliance on fossil fuels impact our health. Download the pdf.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: "U.S. Climate Action Report, 2002 (Washington, DC. May 2002) The U.S. government's third formal communication under the Framework Convention, this report describes national circumstances, identifies existing and planned policies and measures, indicates future trends in greenhouse gas emissions, outlines expected impacts and adaptation measures, and outlines resources.

UC SANTA BARBARA: Wilkinson, Robert, et al. "Preparing for a Changing Climate: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change for California. The California Regional Assessment. A Report of the California Regional Assessment Group for the U.S. Global Change Research Program." (June 2002) This report provides an overview of the potential implications of global climate change on California.

UC SANTA CRUZ: Sloan, Lisa, et al. "Climate Responses to a Doubling of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide for a Climatically Vulnerable Region" (Geophysical Research Letters, 2002) This technical report uses regional climate modeling to generate a variety of scenarios that would occur if CO2 levels were doubled. It finds statistically significant results in temperatures, precipitation and snow pack.

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE: "Hot Prospects - The Potential Impacts of Global Warming on Los Angeles and the Southland" (December 2001) This report has several sections including: moving beyond short-term thinking, indisputable evidence of global warming, potential impacts for Southern California, adaptation strategies, recommendations and long term strategies for curbing global warming, and conclusions.

UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: "Confronting Climate Change in California - Ecological Impacts on the Golden State" (November 1999) This report discusses how climate change will affect California's ecosystems and challenges readers to think about steps to safeguard vulnerable areas and lessen impacts to the economy.

CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION: "1997 Global Climate Change Report: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction for California" (June 1998) This report evaluates the state's progress on significant policy recommendations and strategies adopted in the 1991 Report for all energy-economic sectors, and updates and improves the analyses of strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Web Sites

AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA: The American Lung Association of California's web site includes information about the health impacts of air pollution, including ozone, particulate matter, diesel, global warming, greenhouse gases and urban sprawl.

BLUEWATER NETWORK: The section on this web site, "Global Warming: Finding Solutions in California, has information on California's global warming footprint, AB 1493, global climate change impacts on public lands and waters, petroleum production and reducing California's dependence on oil, the latest news on global warming and the organization's list of victories, frequently asked questions, and links to related web sites.

CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD: The state agency's web site has information about workshops and Board meetings, background information, including AB 1493, facts on global warming, a summary for policymakers, and an email update, and other related links.

CALIFORNIA CLIMATE ACTION REGISTRY: This is the site for the nonprofit greenhouse gas emissions registry created by California law. It includes information about climate change impacts to California, frequently asked questions about the Registry, and reporting protocols.

CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION: The state energy agency's web site includes a section on climate change impacts as well as information related to the California Climate Action Registry. The site provides access to reports and studies, as well as a summary of national climate programs, federal legislation and statues and a bibliography of reports.

COALITION FOR CLEAN AIR: The Coalition's web site includes an "Energy and Climate Change section with fast facts about global warming and frequently asked questions.

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE: The web section, "Climate Change has a more specific section called "Global Warming. This section outlines the science of climate change with additional links, a toll to determine how much your vehicle pollutes, regional impact studies and a section on hot topics.

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: The section on the NRDC web site called "Global Warming has information on the organization's campaign, global warming 101, how to fight it, and new science on global warming.

SIERRA CLUB: The section on this web site is called "Stop Global Warming and contains an overview of global warming, news, the clean car campaign, maps, articles and fact sheets, clean energy alternatives, and how to get involved.

UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: The web site's global warming section includes climate science, impacts and solutions, backgrounders and special reports, as well as information on additional resources.