TheCongress has held hearings about them since the mid-1970s, when a major goal of such programswas to reduce U.S. dependence on oil imports during the energy crisis, and to expand scientificunderstanding of the dynamics of the climate system and its societal consequences as a basis forpolicy decisions that depend on improved predictions of future climate conditions and on betterclimate impact assessments. efforts, which continued in the first Bush and Clinton Administrations toward energy efficiency,renewable energy, and R&D, (5) to try to movetoward reducing greenhouse gas emissions. GCRP agenciessupport scientific research through coordination and joint activities. Climate Change Research Initiative(CCRI) and the National Climate Change Technology Initiative (NCCTI). (21) The functionsof the Interagency Working Group on ClimateScience and Technology include reviewing all programs relating to climate change science, providing recommendations to the CCSTI regarding climate science funding and programallocations, and accepting and acting on recommendations by the Joint Climate Change ScienceProgram Office and the Climate Change Technology Program Office. Climate Change Science Program

On January 30, 2003, the Administration announced that the CCRI and the GCRP would be combined into the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), which is separate from climate changetechnology work which is part of the President's National Climate Change Technology Initiative. The plan describes fivemajor research goals:
Improve knowledge of past and present climate, including natural variability, and improve understanding of causes of variability and change;
Improve understanding of forces causing climate change;
Reduce uncertainty in projections of future climate change;
Understand the sensitivity and adaptability of natural and managed ecosystems to climate change;
Explore the uses and limits of knowledge to manage risks and opportunities related to climate variability and change. Specific research targets accompany each goal. Funding

The Administration's FY2004 budget seeks $1.7 billion to directly sponsor scientific research managed by the CCSP. The FY2004 budget requests $1.2 billion for climate changetechnology, as part of the NCCTI. Funding for the DOE's efforts has been for the research, development, and deployment of more energy efficient and renewable technologies such as: 
"Buildings:" low-power sulfur lamps, advanced heat pumps, chillers and commercial refrigeration, fuel cells, insulation, energy conserving building materials, and advancedwindows;
"Electricity:" generation using alternatives to fossil fuels such as solar energy, biomass power, wind energy, geothermal power, hydropower, and optimized nuclearpower;
"Industries:" greater efficiency in industries such as aluminum, steel, mining,agriculture, chemicals, forest products, and petroleum;
"Transportation:" researching, developing, and deploying more efficient technologies, such as advanced engines, hybrid systems, fuel cells and emission controls; theseconstituted the federal component of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV)which was a 10-year government/domestic auto industry partnership begun in the ClintonAdministration in 1993 that aimed to produce by 2004 a prototype midsized family car with 80 mileper gallon gasoline efficiency and a two-thirds reduction in carbon emissions. Environmental Protection Agency. While there has been some discussion about the proper roles for government, industry, and academe in climate change and other R&D, (35) the climate change R&D activities have not beenhighly controversial. TheClinton Administration's CCTI built upon these earlier efforts. The current Bush Administrationhas introduced its U.S. On the other hand, some proponents note that further R&D is needed to justifycertain climate change management strategies, to focus those strategies on key policy questions, andto reduce scientific uncertainties surrounding prospective climate change so that policymakers canmake better, more informed decisions.
For over 20 years there have been federal programs directly or indirectly related to climate change. Direct programs have focused largely on scientific research to improve the capability tounderstand climate systems and/or predict climatic change and variability. Energy use has been amajor focus of efforts related to possible climate change because carbon dioxide, the major"greenhouse gas," is added to the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned. Those efforts, whichsought to reduce oil imports, manage electricity needs, and address environmental concernsincluding climate change, involve many parts of the government. Similarly, climate science effortsin various agencies have sought to expand scientific understanding of the dynamics of climate andits societal consequences as a basis for policy decisions that rely on improved predictions of futureclimate conditions and climate impact assessments. Coordinating these efforts has been challenging. This report identifies and discusses only the direct climate scientific and research programs of thefederal government, and does not focus on the wide array of programs on energy that, thoughrelevant indirectly to climate change, do not include climate as a specific goal.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program in the first Bush Administration, and subsequently in the Clinton Administration, funded studies to improve scientific understanding of the processesthat influence Earth's climate, including trends on global and regional scales. The Climate ChangeTechnology Initiative (CCTI) was the Clinton Administration's package of research anddevelopment (R&D) to develop renewable energy sources and more efficient technologies, targetedtax credits (to encourage purchase and deployment of more efficient technologies), and voluntaryinformation programs (so businesses and schools might be better informed when making purchasingand operating decisions involving energy use and emissions).
The CCTI was followed by the current Bush Administration's Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI) and National Climate Change Technology Initiative (NCCTI), both parts of acabinet-level Committee on Climate Change Science and Technology Integration. The CCRI andthe extant U.S. Global Change Research Program were combined into the Climate Change ScienceProgram (CCSP) in the FY2004 budget. Various major activities of the CCTI appear to continueat different funding levels through the Bush Administration, while using a different name. The FinalReport of the Strategic Plan for the Climate Change Science Program was released in July 2003.
The FY2004 budget requests $1.7 billion to sponsor scientific research directly managed by the CCSP, and $1.2 billion for technology R&D in the NCCTI. An interagency review process isunderway to identify specific research areas.
With various details about the Bush Administration's climate change efforts still in development, some critics highlight the need for clearer goals for climate change R&D, while someproponents note that further R&D is needed if certain climate change management strategies are tobe put in place. This report will be updated as events warrant.