Climate Change
Greater Clarity and Consistency Are Needed in Reporting Federal Climate Change Funding Gao ID: GAO-06-1122T September 21, 2006The Congress has required annual reports on federal climate change spending. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reports funding for: technology (to reduce greenhouse gas emissions), science (to better understand the climate), international assistance (to help developing countries), and tax expenditures (to encourage emissions reduction). The Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), which coordinates many agencies' activities, also reports on science funding. This testimony is based on GAO's August 2005 report Climate Change: Federal Reports on Climate Change Should Be Clearer and More Complete (GAO-05-461). GAO examined federal climate change funding for 1993 through 2004, including (1) how total funding and funding by category changed and whether funding data are comparable over time and (2) how funding by individual agencies changed and whether funding data are comparable over time.
According to OMB, from 1993 to 2004, federal funding for climate change increased from $3.3 billion to $5.1 billion (55 percent) after adjusting for inflation. During this period, reported inflation-adjusted funding increased for technology and science, but decreased for international assistance. However, it is unclear whether funding changed as much as reported because changes in the format and content of OMB and CCSP reports make it difficult to compare funding data over time. For example, over time, OMB expanded the definitions of some accounts to include more activities, but did not specify how it changed the definitions. OMB officials stated that it is not required to follow a consistent reporting format from year to year. Further, CCSP's science funding reports were difficult to compare over time because CCSP introduced new methods for categorizing funding without explaining how they related to previous methods. The Director of CCSP said that its reports changed as the program evolved. These and other limitations make it difficult to determine actual changes in climate change funding. Similarly, OMB reported that 12 of the 14 agencies that funded climate change programs in 2004 increased such funding between 1993 and 2004, but unexplained changes in the reports' contents limit the comparability of data on funding by agency. For example, reported funding for the Department of Energy (DOE), the agency with the most reported climate-related funding in 2004, increased from $1.34 billion to $2.52 billion (88 percent) after adjusting for inflation. DOE and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration accounted for 81 percent of the reported increase in funding from 1993 through 2004. However, because agency funding totals are composed of individual accounts, changes in the reports' contents, such as the unexplained addition of accounts to the technology category, make it difficult to compare agencies' funding data over time and, therefore, to determine if this is a real or a definitional increase. Furthermore, GAO found that OMB reported funding for certain agencies in some years but not in others, without explanation. OMB told GAO that it relied on agency budget offices to submit accurate data. These data and reporting limitations make determining agencies' actual levels of climate change funding difficult.
GAO-06-1122T, Climate Change: Greater Clarity and Consistency Are Needed in Reporting Federal Climate Change Funding
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Testimony:
Before the Committee on Government Reform House of Representatives:
United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
For Release on Delivery Expected at 10:00 a.m. EDT:
Thursday, September 21, 2006:
Climate Change:
Greater Clarity and Consistency Are Needed in Reporting Federal Climate
Change Funding:
Statement of John B. Stephenson, Director Natural Resources and
Environment:
GAO-06-1122T:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-06-1122T, testimony before the Committee on
Government Reform, House of Representatives
Why GAO Did This Study:
The Congress has required annual reports on federal climate change
spending. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reports funding
for: technology (to reduce greenhouse gas emissions), science (to
better understand the climate), international assistance (to help
developing countries), and tax expenditures (to encourage emissions
reduction). The Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), which
coordinates many agencies‘ activities, also reports on science funding.
This testimony is based on GAO‘s August 2005 report Climate Change:
Federal Reports on Climate Change Should Be Clearer and More Complete
(GAO-05-461). GAO examined federal climate change funding for 1993
through 2004, including (1) how total funding and funding by category
changed and whether funding data are comparable over time and (2) how
funding by individual agencies changed and whether funding data are
comparable over time.
What GAO Found:
According to OMB, from 1993 to 2004, federal funding for climate change
increased from $3.3 billion to $5.1 billion (55 percent) after
adjusting for inflation. During this period, reported inflation-
adjusted funding increased for technology and science, but decreased
for international assistance. However, it is unclear whether funding
changed as much as reported because changes in the format and content
of OMB and CCSP reports make it difficult to compare funding data over
time. For example, over time, OMB expanded the definitions of some
accounts to include more activities, but did not specify how it changed
the definitions. OMB officials stated that it is not required to follow
a consistent reporting format from year to year. Further, CCSP‘s
science funding reports were difficult to compare over time because
CCSP introduced new methods for categorizing funding without explaining
how they related to previous methods. The Director of CCSP said that
its reports changed as the program evolved. These and other limitations
make it difficult to determine actual changes in climate change
funding.
Similarly, OMB reported that 12 of the 14 agencies that funded climate
change programs in 2004 increased such funding between 1993 and 2004,
but unexplained changes in the reports‘ contents limit the
comparability of data on funding by agency. For example, reported
funding for the Department of Energy (DOE), the agency with the most
reported climate-related funding in 2004, increased from $1.34 billion
to $2.52 billion (88 percent) after adjusting for inflation. DOE and
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration accounted for 81
percent of the reported increase in funding from 1993 through 2004.
However, because agency funding totals are composed of individual
accounts, changes in the reports‘ contents, such as the unexplained
addition of accounts to the technology category, make it difficult to
compare agencies‘ funding data over time and, therefore, to determine
if this is a real or a definitional increase. Furthermore, GAO found
that OMB reported funding for certain agencies in some years but not in
others, without explanation. OMB told GAO that it relied on agency
budget offices to submit accurate data. These data and reporting
limitations make determining agencies‘ actual levels of climate change
funding difficult.
Figure: Reported Federal Climate Change Funding by Category, 1993-2004:
[See PDF for Image]
Source: GAO analysis of OMB.
[End of Figure]
What GAO Recommends:
GAO recommended, among other things, that OMB include data on existing
climate-related tax expenditures. OMB agreed with most of GAO‘s
recommendations and has implemented several of them. CCSP agreed with
all of GAO‘s recommendations and has begun explaining changes in report
format or content when they are introduced.
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-1122T].
To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on
the link above. For more information, contact John B. Stephenson at
(202) 512-3841, or stephensonj@gao.gov.
[End of Section]
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
Increases in the earth's average temperature that have already occurred
over the last 100 years, combined with additional future increases
projected by a consensus of scientists, have the potential to
dramatically change life on earth. For example, changes in the
frequency and intensity of rainfall, both possible effects of climate
change, could affect agriculture and forest health in certain
locations. Effects on planetary biodiversity are projected to be even
more pronounced. For more than a decade, the federal government has
funded programs to study the earth's climate and to reduce emissions of
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to climate change.
According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 9 of the 15
cabinet-level executive departments, along with 5 other federal
agencies, received funding for climate change activities in 2004.
In annual reports and testimony before the Congress, OMB reported
climate change funding for 1993 through 2004 using the following four
categories:
* Technology, which includes the research, development, and deployment
of technologies and processes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or
increase energy efficiency. Funding for this category focuses on
programs for energy conservation, renewable energy, and related
efforts.
* Science, which includes research and monitoring to better understand
climate change, such as measuring changes in forest cover.
* International assistance, which helps developing countries to address
climate change by, for example, providing funds for energy efficiency
programs.
* Tax expenditures related to climate change, which are federal income
tax provisions that grant preferential tax treatment to encourage
emission reductions by, for example, providing tax incentives to
promote the use of renewable energy.[Footnote 1]
Over the same time period, the administration also reported annually on
funding specifically for climate change science, one of the four
categories used in OMB reports. The Climate Change Science Program
(CCSP)--a multiagency coordinating group--is currently responsible for
preparing the climate change science reports, which duplicate to some
extent OMB's science funding reports.
My remarks today are based on our August 2005 report on federal climate
change funding from 1993 through 2004[Footnote 2] and will focus on (1)
how total funding and funding by category changed and the extent to
which data on such funding are comparable over time and (2) how funding
by agency changed and the extent to which data on such funding are
comparable over time. We also examined whether OMB reports on climate
change funding provided the data required by the Congress. It is
important to note that in April 2006, OMB issued its fiscal year 2007
report to the Congress on federal climate change expenditures and has
implemented several of GAO's August 2005 recommendations in that
report. Likewise, in November 2005, CCSP issued its fiscal year 2006
report to the Congress and has also implemented a GAO recommendation in
that report. My testimony today addresses only climate change spending
and reporting through fiscal year 2004.
To determine how federal climate change funding by category and agency
changed, we analyzed data from annual OMB and CCSP reports, as well as
congressional testimony. To determine the extent to which the data on
climate change funding were comparable, we analyzed and compared the
contents of the reports and interviewed responsible officials. To
determine whether OMB and CCSP reports provided the data the Congress
required, we reviewed the reporting requirements, the legislative
history of these requirements, and the data OMB and CCSP presented in
their reports. The term "funding" in this testimony reflects
discretionary budget authority, or the authority provided in law to
incur financial obligations that will result in outlays, as reported by
OMB and CCSP in their reports.[Footnote 3] Unless otherwise stated, we
report funding in nominal terms (not adjusted for inflation), and all
years refer to fiscal years.[Footnote 4] This testimony is based on
work that was conducted between July 2004 and August 2005 in accordance
with generally accepted government auditing standards.
In summary, federal funding for climate change, as reported by OMB,
increased from $2.35 billion in 1993 to $5.09 billion in 2004 (116
percent), or from $3.28 billion to $5.09 billion (55 percent) after
adjusting for inflation. OMB reports show that, during this period,
funding increased for technology and science. CCSP, which reports only
science funding, generally presented totals that were consistent with
OMB's, but provided more detail. However, changes in reporting methods
used by both OMB and CCSP limit the comparability of funding data over
time, and therefore it was unclear whether total funding actually
increased as much as reported. Furthermore, we were unable to compare
changes in the fourth category-climate-related tax expenditures-
because OMB reported estimates for proposed but not existing tax
expenditures from 1993 to 2004. Specifically, for 1993 through 2004:
* Technology funding, as reported by OMB, increased from $845 million
to $2.87 billion (239 percent), or from $1.18 billion to $2.87 billion
(183 percent) in inflation-adjusted dollars. The share of total climate
change funding devoted to technology increased from 36 percent to 56
percent. However, we identified several ways that technology funding
presented in OMB's more recent reports may not be comparable to
previously reported technology funding. For example, OMB added accounts
to the technology category that were not reported before or were
presented in different categories, but it did not explain whether these
accounts reflected the creation of new programs, or a decision to count
existing programs for the first time. OMB also expanded the definitions
of some accounts to include more activities without clarifying how the
definitions were changed. Furthermore, OMB reports include a wide range
of federal climate-related programs and activities, some of which-such
as scientific research on global environmental change-are explicitly
climate change programs, whereas others-such as technology initiatives
promoting emissions reduction or encouraging energy conservation-are
not solely for climate change purposes.
* Science funding increased from $1.31 billion to $1.98 billion (51
percent), according to both OMB and CCSP, or from $1.82 billion to
$1.98 billion (9 percent) in inflation-adjusted dollars. However, its
share of total climate change funding decreased from 56 percent to 39
percent. OMB and CCSP generally presented consistent climate change
science funding totals from 1993 through 2004. CCSP reports also
presented more detailed data, but these data were difficult to compare
over the entire period because CCSP periodically introduced new
categorization methods without explaining how the new methods related
to the ones they replaced. Specifically, over the period CCSP used
seven different methods to present detailed science funding data,
making it impossible to develop consistent funding trends of the entire
timeframe.
* International assistance funding reported by OMB increased from $201
million to $252 million (25 percent), but decreased from $280 million
to $252 million (10 percent) in inflation-adjusted dollars. Moreover,
its share of total climate change funding decreased from 9 percent to 5
percent. International assistance funding reported by OMB was generally
comparable over time, although several new accounts were added without
explanation.
* Tax expenditures were not fully reported by OMB for any year, even
though climate-related tax expenditures amounted to hundreds of
millions of dollars in revenue forgone by the federal government in
fiscal year 2004. Although not required to do so, OMB reported proposed
climate-related tax expenditures. However, OMB did not report revenue
loss estimates for existing climate change-related tax expenditures.
Whereas OMB reported no funding for existing climate change-related tax
expenditures in 2004, the federal budget for that year listed four tax
expenditures related to climate change in that year, including
estimated revenue losses of $330 million for incentives to develop
certain renewable energy sources.
OMB and CCSP officials told us that time constraints and other factors
contributed to changes in report structure and content over time. For
example, OMB officials said that the short timeline for completing the
report required by the Congress (within 45 days of submitting the
upcoming fiscal year's budget for the three most recent reports)
limited OMB's ability to analyze data submitted by agencies. They also
noted that they were not directed to use the same report format over
time or explain differences in methodology from one report to another.
Regarding tax expenditures, OMB officials said that they consistently
included in the reports those proposed tax expenditures where a key
purpose was specifically to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They also
stated that they had not included existing tax expenditures that may
have greenhouse gas benefits but were enacted for other purposes, and
that the Congress had not provided any guidance to suggest that
additional tax expenditure data should be included in the annual
reports. However, in response to a recommendation we made in our 2005
report, OMB in its fiscal year 2007 report to the Congress included
existing tax expenditures that could contribute to reducing greenhouse
gases. Because of these and other limitations, determining actual
changes in federal climate change funding is difficult.
OMB reported that 12 of the 14 agencies receiving funding for climate
change programs in 2004 received more funding in that year than they
had in 1993, but it is unclear whether funding changed as much as OMB
reported because unexplained changes in what was defined as climate
change funding. Reported funding for the Department of Energy (DOE),
the agency with the most reported climate-related funding in 2004,
increased from $963 million to $2.52 billion (162 percent), or from
$1.34 billion to $2.52 billion (88 percent) after adjusting for
inflation. DOE and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) accounted for 81 percent of the reported increase in funding
from 1993 through 2004. However, because agency funding totals are
composed of individual accounts, the changes in the reports' contents
discussed earlier, such as the unexplained addition of accounts to the
technology category, limit the comparability of agencies' funding data
over time, making it difficult to determine if these are real or
definitional increases.
We found that OMB reports presented information on budget authority,
not--as required by the Congress--on expenditures. The Congress has
required that information be provided on expenditures and obligations,
the amounts actually spent or committed to be spent, while OMB reports
generally have presented information on a different measure, budget
authority, or the amount of funding provided by the Congress. OMB
officials told us that they adopted their approach because the relevant
congressional committees generally use budget authority. They told us
that they reported on this basis because these committees have not
objected to OMB's approach.
We recommended that OMB and CCSP, from year-to-year, use the same
format for presenting data, explain changes in report content or format
when they are introduced, and provide and maintain a crosswalk
comparing new and old report structures when changes in report format
are introduced. We also recommended that OMB include data on existing
climate-related tax expenditures in future reports. Finally, we
recommended that OMB request that the Congress clarify whether future
reports should be presented in terms of expenditures and obligations or
in terms of budget authority, and if the Congress prefers the former,
OMB should request the necessary time to prepare reports on that basis.
We received oral comments from OMB on August 1, 2005, and written
comments from CCSP in a letter dated July 28, 2005. OMB agreed with the
recommendations relating to report content and format and said it was
studying the other recommendations. CCSP agreed with all of our
recommendations.
After our report was issued in August 2005, OMB released its fiscal
year 2007 report to Congress on climate change expenditures. Several of
our recommendations were implemented in that report. For example, OMB
included data on existing climate-related expenditures. OMB also
labeled its tables for the major types of funding with respect to
fiscal year and budgetary metric (actual budget authority, enacted
budget authority, obligations, outlays, and proposed budget authority).
CCSP has implemented our recommendation about explaining changes in
report content or format.
Background:
In 1990, the Congress enacted the Global Change Research Act. [Footnote
5] This act, among other things, required the administration to (1)
prepare and at least every 3 years revise and submit to the Congress a
national global change research plan, including an estimate of federal
funding for global change research activities to be conducted under the
plan; (2) in each annual budget submission to the Congress, identify
the items in each agency's budget that are elements of the United
States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), an interagency long-
term climate change science research program; and (3) report annually
on climate change "expenditures required" for the USGCRP.[Footnote 6]
In 1992, the United States signed and ratified the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was intended to stabilize
the buildup of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere, but did not
impose binding limits on emissions.
In response to the requirements of the 1990 act, the administration
reported annually from 1990 through 2004 on funding for climate change
science in reports titled Our Changing Planet.[Footnote 7] From 1990
through 2001, the reports presented detailed science funding data for
the USGCRP. Federal climate change science programs were reorganized in
2001 and 2002. In 2001, the Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI)
was created to coordinate short-term climate change research focused on
reducing uncertainty, and in 2002, CCSP was created to coordinate and
integrate USGCRP and CCRI activities. CCSP is a collaborative
interagency program designed to improve the government wide management
of climate science and research. Since 2002, CCSP has been responsible
for meeting the reporting requirement and has published the Our
Changing Planet reports. The most recent report in this series was
published in November 2005.
The Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP) is a multiagency
technology research and development coordinating structure similar to
CCSP. Its overall goal is to attain, on a global scale and in
partnership with other entities, a technological capability that can
provide abundant, clean, secure, and affordable energy and related
services needed to encourage and sustain economic growth, while
achieving substantial reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases and
mitigating the risks of potential climate change.
In March 1998, OMB, in response to a congressional requirement for a
detailed account of climate change expenditures and obligations, issued
a brief report summarizing federal agency programs related to global
climate change. OMB produced another climate change expenditures report
in March 1999 and, in response to a request at a 1999 hearing, OMB
provided climate change funding data for 1993 through 1998 for the
hearing record. Each year since 1999, the Congress has included a
provision in annual appropriations laws requiring OMB to report in
detail all federal agency obligations and expenditures, domestic and
international, for climate change programs and activities. As a result
of these reporting requirements, OMB annually publishes the Federal
Climate Change Expenditures Report to Congress, which presents federal
climate change funding for the technology, science, and international
assistance categories, and tax expenditures. The climate change
activities and associated costs presented in OMB reports must be
identified by line item as presented in the President's budget
appendix. OMB has interpreted this to mean that the data in the reports
must be shown by budget account. For the last 3 years for which we
reviewed data, the Congress had required that the administration
produce reports for climate change expenditures and obligations for the
current fiscal year within 45 days after the submission of the
President's budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. OMB's most
recent report was released in April 2006.
OMB reports include a wide range of federal climate-related programs
and activities. Some activities, like scientific research on global
environmental change by USGCRP, are explicitly climate change programs,
whereas others, such as many technology initiatives, are not solely for
climate change purposes. For example, OMB reports included some
programs that were started after the United States ratified the
Framework Convention in 1992 and were specifically designed to
encourage businesses and others to reduce their greenhouse gas
emissions, for example, by installing more efficient lighting. OMB
reports also included programs that were expanded or initiated in the
wake of the 1973 oil embargo to support such activities as energy
conservation (to use energy more efficiently), renewable energy (to
substitute for fossil fuels), and fossil energy (to make more efficient
use of fossil fuels), all of which can help to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, but were not initially developed as climate change programs.
Reported Federal Climate Change Funding Increased for Three of the Four
Funding Categories, but Data May Not Be Comparable Over Time:
Federal climate change funding, as reported by OMB, increased from
$2.35 billion in 1993 to $5.09 billion in 2004 (116 percent), or from
$3.28 billion to $5.09 billion (55 percent) after adjusting for
inflation. Funding also increased for technology, science, and
international assistance between 1993 and 2004, as shown in table 1.
However, changes in reporting methods have limited the comparability of
funding data over time; therefore it is unclear whether funding
increased as much as reported by OMB.[Footnote 8] OMB did not report
estimates for existing climate-related tax expenditures during this
period, although climate-related tax expenditures amounted to hundreds
of millions of dollars in revenue forgone by the federal government in
fiscal year 2004. OMB officials told us that changes in reporting
methods were due to such reasons as the short amount of time available
to prepare the report, the fact that the reporting requirement is not
permanent law, but appears each year in their appropriations
legislation, and changes in administration policy and priorities. As a
result of our recommendations, however, OMB made changes in its report
on climate change funding for fiscal year 2007, which was published in
April 2006. For example, OMB more clearly labeled data throughout the
report and added information on existing tax provisions that can
contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Table 1: Reported Federal Climate Change Funding by Category, Selected
Years:
Discretionary budget authority in millions of dollars.
Category: Technology;
1993: $845;
1997: $1,056;
2001: $1,675;
2004: $2,868.
Category: Science;
1993: 1,306;
1997: 1,656;
2001: 1,728;
2004: 1,976.
Category: International assistance;
1993: 201;
1997: 164;
2001: 218;
2004: 252.
Category: Tax expenditures;
1993: [A];
1997: [A];
2001: [A];
2004: [A].
Category: Total;
1993: $2,352;
1997: $2,876;
2001: $3,603;
2004: $5,090.
Source: GAO analysis of OMB data.
[A] OMB did not report revenue loss estimates for existing climate-
related tax expenditures for this year.
[End of table]
Technology:
From 1993 through 2004, technology funding increased as a share of
total federal climate funding from 36 percent to 56 percent, as
reported by OMB. Over this period, technology funding increased from
$845 million to $2.87 billion (239 percent), or adjusted for inflation,
from $1.18 billion to $2.87 billion (143 percent). For example, funding
for energy conservation increased from $346 million to $868 million,
and funding for renewable energy increased from $249 million to $352
million. Table 2 presents funding data for selected years for the seven
largest accounts, which accounted for 92 percent of technology funding
in 2004.
Table 2: Reported Technology Funding for Selected Accounts and Years:
Discretionary budget authority in millions of dollars.
Agency: Department of Energy;
Account: Energy Conservation;
1993: $346;
1997: $414;
2001: $810;
2004: $868.
Agency: Department of Energy;
Account: Energy Supply --Fossil Energy Research and Development (R&D);
1993: 250;
1997: 201;
2001: 292;
2004: 455.
Agency: Department of Energy;
Account: Energy Supply --Renewable Energy;
1993: 249;
1997: 244;
2001: 370;
2004: 352.
Agency: Department of Energy;
Account: Science (Fusion, Sequestration, and Hydrogen)[A];
1993: [B];
1997: [B];
2001: 35;
2004: 333.
Agency: Department of Energy;
Account: Energy Supply - Nuclear [C];
1993: [B];
1997: [B];
2001: 39;
2004: 309.
Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
Account: Exploration, Science, and Aeronautics;
1993: [B];
1997: [B];
2001: [B];
2004: 227.
Agency: Environmental Protection Agency;
Account: Environmental Programs and Management;
1993: [B];
1997: 70;
2001: 96;
2004: 89.
Agency: Other;
Account: [Empty];
1993: [B];
1997: 127;
2001: 33;
2004: 235.
Total;
Account: [Empty];
1993: $845;
1997: $1,056;
2001: $1,675;
2004: $2,868.
Source: GAO analysis of OMB data.
[A] Sequestration can be defined as the capture and isolation of gases
that otherwise could contribute to global climate change.
[B] OMB did not report a value in the technology category for this
account for this year.
[C] For 2001 Energy Supply --Nuclear funding, we counted the Nuclear
Energy Research Initiative and Energy Supply --Nuclear budget accounts
as presented by OMB. OMB did not separately present these accounts for
2004, and included funding for the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative
within the Energy Supply--Nuclear account.
[End of table]
We identified three ways that the data on technology funding presented
in three of OMB's recent reports may not be comparable to the data
presented in previous reports. First, OMB added accounts that were not
previously presented. For example, OMB reported that NASA had $152
million in funding for technology-related activities, which included
research to reduce emissions associated with aircraft operations in
2003. OMB did not report this account in the technology category in
2002. In addition, OMB included and removed some accounts, without
explanation, from reports in years other than 2003. For example, OMB
reported combined funding of $195 million in 1999, and $200 million in
2000, for bio-based products and bio-energy at the Departments of
Energy and of Agriculture. No funding for these accounts was reported
from 1993 through 1998 or from 2001 through 2004. In each of these
cases, OMB did not explain whether the new accounts reflected the
creation of new programs, a decision to count an existing program for
the first time, or a decision to re-classify funding from different
categories as technology funding.
According to OMB officials, these changes in report structure and
content for technology funding, as well as similar changes in science
and international assistance funding, were the result of time
constraints and other factors. They told us that the short timeline
required by the Congress for completing the report (within 45 days of
submitting the upcoming year's budget) limited OMB's ability to analyze
data submitted by agencies. They said that they must rely on funding
estimates quickly developed by agencies in order to produce the report
within the specified timeframe, and that the reports are often
compilations of agency activities and programs, some of which may or
may not have been presented separately in prior years. Moreover, these
officials told us that the presentation of data has changed over time
for a variety of reasons other than short time limits, including
changes in administration priorities and policy, changes in
congressional direction, changes to budget and account structures, and
attempts to more accurately reflect the reporting requirement as
specified in the annual appropriations language. The officials also
stated that in each report they ensured consistency for the 3 years
covered (prior year, current year, and budget year).
Furthermore, OMB officials told us that the presentation of new
accounts in the technology category, as well as the international
assistance category, was due to the establishment of new programs and
the inclusion of existing programs. They told us that the account-by-
account display in the reports has been changed over time as the CCSP
and the Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP), a multiagency
technology research and development coordinating structure similar to
the CCSP, have become better defined.
Second, OMB reported that it expanded the definitions of some accounts
to include more activities but did not specify how the definitions were
changed. We found that over 50 percent of the increase in technology
funding from 2002 to 2003 was due to increases in two existing DOE
accounts: nuclear energy supply and science (fusion, sequestration, and
hydrogen). OMB reported funding of $32 million in 2002 and $257 million
in 2003, for the nuclear energy supply account[Footnote 9] and reported
funding of $35 million in 2002, and $298 million in 2003, for the
science (fusion, sequestration, and hydrogen) account. Although OMB
stated in its May 2004 report that 2003 funding data included more
activities within certain accounts, including the research and
development of nuclear and fusion energy, the report was unclear about
whether the funding increases for these two existing accounts were due
to the addition of more programs to the accounts or increased funding
for existing programs already counted in the accounts. Finally, if new
programs were counted in these accounts, OMB did not specify what
programs were added and why.
OMB officials told us that the definitions of some accounts were
changed to include more nuclear programs because, while the prior
administration did not consider nuclear programs to be part of its
activities relating to climate change, the current administration does
consider them to be a key part of the CCTP.
Third, OMB did not maintain the distinction that it had made in
previous reports between funding for programs whose primary focus is
climate change and programs where climate change is not the primary
focus. As a result, certain accounts in the technology category were
consolidated into larger accounts. From 1993 through 2001, OMB
presented funding data as directly or indirectly related to climate
change. The former programs are those for which climate change is a
primary purpose, such as renewable energy research and development. The
latter are programs that have another primary purpose, but which also
support climate change goals. For example, grants to help low-income
people weatherize their dwellings are intended primarily to reduce
heating costs, but may also help reduce the consumption of fossil
fuels. OMB did not maintain the distinction between the two kinds of
programs for 2002, 2003, and 2004 funding data. For example, OMB
presented energy conservation funding of $810 million in 2001,
including $619 million in direct research and development funding, and
$191 million in indirect funding for weatherization and state energy
grants. In contrast, 2002 funding data presented by OMB reflected
energy conservation funding of $897 million, including $622 million in
research and development, $230 million for weatherization, and $45
million for state energy grants, but did not distinguish between direct
and indirect funding. OMB presented energy conservation funding of $880
million in 2003 and $868 million in 2004 as single accounts without any
additional detail.
OMB officials stated that they had adopted a different approach to
reporting climate change funding to reflect the new program structures
as the CCSP and CCTP were being established. They stated that the
result was, in some cases, an aggregation of activities that may have
previously been reported on separate accounts. According to the
officials, the 2003 and 2004 data more accurately reflect the range of
climate change-related programs as they are now organized. OMB included
a crosswalk in its May 2004 report that showed 2003 funding levels as
they would have been presented using the methodology of previous
reports. While the crosswalk identified funding for accounts that were
presented in previous reports, it did not identify new funding reported
by OMB or specify whether such funding was the result of counting new
programs, a decision to start counting existing programs as climate
change-related, or shifts between categories. OMB officials told us
that the reporting methodology has changed since the initial reports
and that it may be difficult to resolve the differences because of
changes in budget and account structure. Finally, they noted that each
report has been prepared in response to a one-time requirement and that
there has been no requirement for a consistent reporting format from
one year to the next or for explaining differences in methodology from
one report to another. However, in its fiscal year 2007 report to the
Congress, OMB responded to our recommendations by labeling the data
more clearly and reporting changes were footnoted.
Science:
According to both OMB and CCSP, the share of total climate change
funding devoted to science decreased from 56 percent in 1993 to 39
percent in 2004, even though science funding increased from $1.31
billion to $1.98 billion (51 percent), or from $1.82 billion to $1.98
billion (9 percent) after adjusting for inflation. For example,
according to OMB, funding for NASA on activities such as the satellite
measurement of atmospheric ozone concentrations increased from $888
million to $1.26 billion.[Footnote 10]
OMB reported new science funding for 2003 and 2004 to reflect the
creation of CCRI. Funding for CCRI increased from $41 million in 2003,
the first year funding for CCRI was presented, to $173 million in 2004,
and included funding by most of the agencies presented in table 3. We
present funding for CCRI as a separate program to illustrate the new
organization's role in increasing reported climate change funding.
Table 3 presents funding as reported by OMB for the eight largest
agencies and programs in the science category, which accounted for 99
percent of the science total for 2004.
Table 3: Reported Science Funding by Agency or Program for Selected
Years:
Discretionary budget authority in millions of dollars.
Agency or Program: NASA[A];
Account: Science, Aeronautics, and Technology;
1993: $888;
1997: $1,218;
2001: $1,176;
2004: $1,256.
Agency or Program: National Science Foundation;
Account: Research and Related Activities;
1993: 124;
1997: 166;
2001: 181;
2004: 185.
Agency or Program: CCRI;
Account: Various accounts for eight agencies;
1993: [B];
1997: [B];
2001: [B];
2004: 173.
Agency or Program: DOE;
Account: Science (Biological and Environmental Research);
1993: 118;
1997: 109;
2001: 116;
2004: 102.
Agency or Program: Department of Commerce - National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration;
Account: Operations, Research, and Facilities;
1993: 66;
1997: 60;
2001: 93;
2004: 82.
Agency or Program: Department of Agriculture;
Account: Agriculture Research Service and four other accounts;
1993: 55;
1997: 57;
2001: 51;
2004: 64.
Agency or Program: Department of Health and Human Services;
Account: National Institutes of Health (NIH);
1993: [B];
1997: [B];
2001: 54;
2004: 62.
Agency or Program: Department of Interior - U.S. Geological Survey;
Account: Surveys and Research;
1993: 22;
1997: 26;
2001: 27;
2004: 28.
Agency or Program: Other;
Account: [Empty];
1993: 33;
1997: 20;
2001: 30;
2004: 24.
Total;
Account: [Empty];
1993: $1,306;
1997: $1,656;
2001: $1,728;
2004: $1,976.
Source: GAO analysis of OMB data.
Note: OMB generally presented climate science funding with one account
per agency.
[A] Beginning in 2004, NASA funding reflects full-cost accounting,
meaning institutional activities such as personnel and facilities
(which had been held in separate accounts) are included. NASA's climate
change funding varies based on changes in its budget for space-
observing platforms, the natural development cycle of its satellites,
and revisions to mission profiles.
[B] OMB did not report a value in the science category for this agency
or program for this year.
[End of table]
Science funding data from 1993 through 2004, as reported by OMB and
CCSP, were generally comparable, although there were more discrepancies
in earlier years than in later years.[Footnote 11] Science funding
totals reported by CCSP from 1993 through 1997 were within 3 percent of
the OMB totals for all years except 1996 and 1997. Science funding
totals reported by CCSP in 1996 and 1997 were $156 million (9 percent)
and $162 million (10 percent) higher than those reported by OMB. Over
90 percent of the difference for those years occurred because CCSP
reported greater funding for NASA than OMB reported. CCSP stated in its
fiscal year 1998 report that it increased its 1996 and 1997 budget
figures to reflect the reclassification of certain programs and
activities in some agencies that were not previously included in the
science funding total.
Total science funding reported by OMB and CCSP from 1998 through 2004
was identical for 4 of the 7 years. The largest difference for the 3
years that were not identical was $8 million in 2001, which represented
less than 1 percent of the science funding total reported by OMB for
that year. The other differences in total science funding were $3
million in 2002, and $1 million in 1999, and each represented less than
1 percent of the OMB science total for those years.
Science funding by agency, as presented by OMB and CCSP from 1993
through 1997, differed in many cases, with the exception of funding for
the National Science Foundation (NSF), which was nearly identical over
that time period. For example, CCSP reported $143 million more funding
for NASA in 1996 than OMB reported, and OMB reported $24.9 million more
funding for DOE in 1994 than CCSP reported. The greatest dollar
difference related to NASA's funding in 1997. Whereas OMB reported
funding of $1.22 billion, CCSP reported funding of $1.37 billion--$151
million, or 12 percent more than the OMB amount. The greatest
percentage difference related to the Department of the Interior's
funding in 1993. Whereas OMB reported funding of $22 million, CCSP
reported funding of $37.7 million--$15.7 million, or 71 percent more
than reported by OMB. Further, from 1993 through 1997, OMB did not
report science funding by some agencies that were reported by CCSP. For
example, CCSP reported that DOD's funding ranged from $5.7 million to
$6.6 million from 1993 through 1995, and that the Tennessee Valley
Authority received funding of $1 million or less per year from 1993
through 1997, but OMB did not report any such funding.
OMB officials told us that data used for the 1993 to 1997 science
funding comparison with CCSP were collected too long ago to be able to
identify the differences. However, they stated that the data from early
years were produced in a very short period for use in testimony or
questions for the record. According to OMB, this quick turnaround did
not allow time for a thorough consistency check with other data
sources.
From 1998 through 2004, OMB and CCSP data on funding by agency were
nearly identical. Both OMB and CCSP reported science funding for nine
agencies over the entire 7-year period, for a total of 63 agency
funding amounts. Of these, 52, or 83 percent, matched exactly. Of the
11 differences, there was one difference of $8 million, one of $2
million, and nine of $1 million or less. The greatest difference from
1998 through 2004 was $8 million in funding for the Department of
Commerce in 2001, which was 9 percent of the Department of Commerce
total, or less than 1 percent of total science funding as reported by
OMB for that year.
The director of CCSP told us that changes to reports, such as the
creation and deletion of different categorization methods, were made
because CCSP is changing towards a goals-oriented budget, and that
categorization methods changed as the program evolved. The director
also said that future reports will explicitly present budget data as
they were reported in prior reports to retain continuity, even if new
methods are introduced. Another CCSP official told us that CCSP now
works with OMB to ensure that consistent funding information is
presented in Our Changing Planet reports and OMB reports, and that,
beginning with the fiscal year 2006 report (which was published in late
2005), CCSP would attempt to explain when and why changes are made to
reporting methods. In its 2006 fiscal year report, CCSP did explain
changes to its reporting.
International Assistance:
From 1993 through 2004, international assistance funding decreased from
9 percent to 5 percent of total federal funding on climate change, as
reported by OMB. Over the same time period, international assistance
funding increased from $201 million to $252 million (an increase of 25
percent), but after adjusting for inflation, decreased from $280
million to $252 million (a decrease of 10 percent). For example,
reported funding for the Department of the Treasury to help developing
countries invest in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and the
development of clean energy technologies, such as fuel cells, increased
from zero in 1993 to $32 million in 2004. Table 4 presents funding as
reported by OMB for the three largest accounts in the international
assistance category.
Table 4: Reported International Assistance Funding for Selected
Accounts and Years:
Agency: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID);
Account: Development Assistance;
1993: $200;
1997: $147;
2001: $112;
2004: $125.
Agency: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID);
Account: Assistance for the Independent States of the Former Soviet
Union;
1993: [B];
1997: [B];
2001: 31;
2004: 47.
Agency: Department of the Treasury;
Account: Global Environment Facility[A];
1993: [B];
1997: 14;
2001: 41;
2004: 32.
Agency: Other;
Account: [Empty];
1993: 1;
1997: 3
2001: 34;
2004: 48.
Agency: Total;
Account: [Empty];
1993: $201;
1997: $164;
2001: $218;
2004: $252.
Source: GAO analysis of OMB data.
[A] OMB did not include the Department of the Treasury's funding for
the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in the international assistance
category from 1994 through 2001. OMB presented GEF funding in the
international assistance category from 2002 through 2004. To maintain
consistency, we included GEF funding in the international assistance
category from 1994 through 2004 for the purposes of this testimony.
[B] OMB did not report a value in the international assistance category
for this account for this year.
[End of table]
International assistance funding reported by OMB was generally
comparable over time, although some new accounts were added without
explanation. In its reports, OMB did not provide an explanation of
whether such new accounts reflected the creation of new programs or a
decision to count existing programs as climate change-related for the
first time. OMB officials told us that the presentation of new accounts
in the international assistance category was due to the establishment
of new programs and the inclusion of existing programs. They told us
that the account-by-account display in the reports has been changed
over time as climate change programs have become better defined.
Tax Expenditures:
Although not required to provide information on tax expenditures
related to climate change, OMB reported certain information related to
climate-related tax expenditures for each year. Specifically, it listed
proposed climate-related tax expenditures appearing in the President's
budget, but it did not report revenue loss estimates for existing
climate-related tax expenditures from 1993 through 2004. Based on the
Department of the Treasury's tax expenditure list published in the 2006
budget,[Footnote 12] we identified four existing tax expenditures that
have purposes similar to programs reported by OMB in its climate change
reports. In 2004, estimated revenue losses amounted to hundreds of
millions of dollars for the following tax expenditures:[Footnote 13]
* $330 million in revenue losses was estimated for new technology tax
credits to reduce the cost of generating electricity from renewable
resources. A credit of 10 percent was available for investment in solar
and geothermal energy facilities. In addition, a credit of 1.5 cents
was available per kilowatt hour of electricity produced from renewable
resources such as biomass, poultry waste, and wind facilities.
* $100 million in revenue losses was estimated for excluded interest on
energy facility bonds to reduce the cost of investing in certain
hydroelectric and solid waste disposal facilities. The interest earned
on state and local bonds used to finance the construction of certain
hydroelectric generating facilities was tax exempt. Some solid waste
disposal facilities that produced electricity also qualified for this
exemption.
* $100 million in revenue losses was estimated for excluded income from
conservation subsidies provided by public utilities to reduce the cost
of purchasing energy-efficient technologies. Residential utility
customers could exclude from their taxable income energy conservation
subsidies provided by public utilities. Customers could exclude
subsidies used for installing or modifying certain equipment that
reduced energy consumption or improved the management of energy demand.
* $70 million in revenue losses was estimated for tax incentives for
the purchase of clean fueled vehicles to reduce automobile emissions. A
tax credit of 10 percent, not to exceed $4,000, was available to
purchasers of electric vehicles. Purchasers of vehicles powered by
compressed natural gas, hydrogen, alcohol, and other clean fuels could
deduct up to $50,000 of the vehicle purchase costs from their taxable
income, depending upon the weight and cost of the vehicle. Similarly,
owners of refueling properties could deduct up to $100,000 for the
purchase of re-fueling equipment for clean fueled vehicles.
OMB officials said that they consistently reported proposed tax
expenditures where a key purpose was specifically to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions. They also stated that they did not include existing tax
expenditures that may have greenhouse gas benefits but were enacted for
other purposes, and that the Congress had provided no guidance to
suggest additional tax expenditure data should be included in the
annual reports.
OMB's decision criteria for determining which tax expenditures to
include differed in two key respects from its criteria for determining
which accounts to include. First, OMB presented funding for existing as
well as proposed accounts, but presented information only on proposed,
but not existing, tax expenditures. Second, OMB presented funding for
programs where a key purpose was specifically to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, as well as for programs that may have greenhouse gas
benefits but were enacted for other purposes. However, OMB presented
information only on proposed tax expenditures where a key purpose was
specifically to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In response to GAO's
recommendation to report existing climate-related tax expenditures,
OMB's fiscal year 2007 report to the Congress includes existing tax
expenditures that contribute to reducing global warming.
Reported Funding for Most Agencies Increased, but Unexplained Changes
in Report Content Limit the Comparability of Data Over Time:
OMB reported that 12 of the 14 agencies that received funding for
climate change programs in 2004 received more funding in that year than
they had in 1993. However, it is unclear whether funding changed as
much as reported by OMB because unexplained modifications in the
reports' contents limit the comparability of agencies' funding data.
From 1993 through 2004, climate change funding for DOE increased more
than any other agency, from $963 million to $2.52 billion, for an
increase of $1.56 billion (162 percent). Adjusted for inflation, such
funding increased from $1.34 billion to $2.52 billion, for an increase
of $1.18 billion (88 percent). The second largest increase in agency
funding was for NASA, which received a $660 million (74 percent)
increase in funding over the same time period. NASA's funding increased
$310 million (25 percent) over this period after adjusting for
inflation. The funding increases for these two agencies accounted for
81 percent of the reported total increase in federal climate change
funding from 1993 through 2004. Conversely, USAID experienced the
largest decrease in funding--from $200 million in 1993 to $195 million
in 2004 (3 percent), or, in inflation-adjusted terms, from $279 million
to $195 million (30 percent). Table 5 shows OMB's reports on climate
change funding by agency for selected years.
Table 5: Reported Climate Change Funding by Agency, Selected Years:
Discretionary budget authority in millions of dollars.
Agency: DOE;
1993: $963;
1997: $968;
2001: $1,665;
2004: $2,519.
Agency: NASA;
1993: 888;
1997: 1,218;
2001: 1,176;
2004: 1,548.
Agency: NSF;
1993: 124;
1997: 222;
2001: 181;
2004: 226.
Agency: USAID;
1993: 200;
1997: 147;
2001: 157;
2004: 195.
Agency: Department of Commerce;
1993: 66;
1997: 102;
2001: 93;
2004: 144.
Agency: EPA;
1993: 26;
1997: 99;
2001: 146;
2004: 127.
Agency: Department of Agriculture;
1993: 55;
1997: 57;
2001: 54;
2004: 115.
Agency: Other;
1993: 30;
1997: 63;
2001: 131;
2004: 216.
Total;
1993: $2,352;
1997: $2,876;
2001: $3,603;
2004: $5,090.
Source: GAO analysis of OMB data.
[End of table]
Unexplained changes in the content of OMB reports make it difficult to
determine whether funding changed as much as was reported by OMB.
Because agency funding totals are composed of individual accounts, the
changes in the reports' contents discussed earlier, such as the
unexplained addition of accounts to the technology category, limit the
comparability of agencies' funding data over time. For example, OMB
reported Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defense-wide funding totaling $83
million in 2003, and $51 million in 2004, in accounts titled Research,
Development, Test, and Evaluation, but did not report these accounts
for prior years. OMB did not explain whether these accounts reflected
the creation of new programs or a decision to count existing programs
for the first time.
OMB officials told us that agencies can be included in reports for the
first time when new initiatives or programs are started, such as the
CCTP. In some cases, those initiatives or programs are made up of
entirely new funding but in other cases they may be additions on top of
a small amount of base funding. These officials told us that agencies
sometimes include data that were not previously reported when they
requested funding for those initiatives, but they assured us that the
data are reported consistently for the 3 years presented in each
report.
OMB Reports Presented Information on Budget Authority Rather Than--as
Required by the Congress--on Expenditures and Obligations:
The federal budget process is complex, and there are numerous steps
that culminate in the outlay of federal funds. Among the key steps in
this process are the following, as defined by OMB:
* Budget authority means the authority provided in law to incur
financial obligations that will result in outlays.
* Obligations are binding agreements that will result in outlays,
immediately or in the future.
* Expenditures are payments to liquidate an obligation. The Congress,
in the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, as
amended, has defined outlays as being the expenditures and net lending
of funds under budget authority.
In simplified terms, budget authority precedes obligations, which
precede outlays in the process of spending federal funds.
As noted above, since 1999, the Congress has required the President to
submit a report each year to the Senate and House Committees on
Appropriations describing in detail all federal agency obligations and
expenditures, domestic and international, for climate change programs
and activities. In response, OMB had annually published the Federal
Climate Change Expenditures Report to Congress which presented budget
authority information in summary data tables instead of obligations and
expenditures, as the title of the report and the table titles
suggested. The only indication that the table presented budget
authority information, rather than expenditures, was a parenthetical
statement to that effect in a significantly smaller font.
OMB officials told us that the term "expenditures" was used in the
report title and text because that was the term used most often in the
legislative language. They also said that the reports presented data in
terms of budget authority because OMB has always interpreted the bill
and report language to request the budget authority levels for each
activity in a particular year. They stated further that, from a
technical budget standpoint, expenditures are usually synonymous with
outlays, and that one way to think of budget authority is that it is
the level of expenditures (over a period of 1 or more years) that is
made available in a particular appropriations bill. OMB viewed this as
an appropriate interpretation of the congressional requirements since
the committees on appropriations work with budget authority and not
outlays. Moreover, OMB told us that these committees had never objected
to its interpretation of "obligations and expenditures" as budget
authority and that OMB had always identified the data provided in the
table as budget authority.
In our August 2005 report, we expressed several concerns with OMB's
approach. First, OMB's approach of reporting budget authority did not
comply with the language of the annual legal requirements to report on
climate change "obligations and expenditures." Second, in reviewing the
legislative history of these reporting requirements, we found no
support for OMB's interpretation that when the Congress called for
"obligations and expenditures" information, it actually meant "budget
authority" information. Third, OMB's interpretation was not consistent
with its own Circular A-11, which defines budget authority as stated
above, not actual obligations and expenditures. Nonetheless, we
recognize that it is not possible for OMB to meet the most recent
reporting requirements because it must provide a report on climate
change obligations and expenditures for the current fiscal year within
45 days of submitting the President's budget for the following fiscal
year (which must be submitted the first Monday of February). For
example, the President submitted the fiscal year 2006 budget on
February 7, 2005, so OMB's report on fiscal year 2005 climate change
expenditures and obligations had to be submitted in March 2005--
approximately halfway through the 2005 fiscal year. However, complete
expenditures data are available only after the end of each fiscal year.
Thus, OMB could not meet both the timing requirement and report all
actual expenditures and obligations in fiscal year 2005.
CCSP has also reported budget authority data in its Our Changing Planet
reports. As noted above, CCSP, or its predecessor organization,
initially was required to report annually on certain climate change
"amounts spent," "amounts expected to be spent," and "amounts
requested," but this reporting requirement was terminated in 2000.
Currently, CCSP is responsible for reporting information relating to
the federal budget and federal funding for climate change science, not
climate change expenditure information. Since 2000, CCSP has fulfilled
these reporting requirements by providing budget authority information
in its Our Changing Planet reports.
Conclusions:
In conclusion, we found that the lack of clarity in OMB's and CCSP's
reports made it difficult to comprehensively understand the federal
government's climate change expenditures. A better understanding of
these expenditures is needed before it is possible to assess CCSP's and
other federal agencies' progress towards their climate change goals. We
therefore made seven recommendations to OMB and three to CCSP to
clarify how they present climate change funding information. OMB agreed
with most of our recommendations and has also implemented several of
them. CCSP agreed with all of our recommendations and has implemented
our recommendation about explaining changes in report content or
format.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be pleased
to respond to any question you or other Members of the Committee may
have.
Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
For further information regarding this testimony, please contact me at
(202) 512-3841. John Healey, Anne K. Johnson, and Vincent P. Price made
key contributions to this testimony. Richard Johnson, Carol Kolarik,
Carol Herrnstadt Shulman, and Anne Stevens also made important
contributions.
FOOTNOTES
[1] The revenue losses resulting from provisions of federal tax laws
may, in effect, be viewed as expenditures channeled through the tax
system. The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974,
as amended, requires that the budget include the level of tax
expenditures under existing law. Like the annual lists of tax
expenditures prepared by the Department of the Treasury, this testimony
considers only tax expenditures related to individual and corporate
income taxes and does not address excise taxes.
[2] U.S. Government Accountability Office, Climate Change: Federal
Reports on Climate Change Funding Should be Clearer and More Complete.
GAO-05-461 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 25, 2005).
[3] An OMB official stated that there is no mandatory budget authority
for climate change programs.
[4] When we adjusted for inflation, we used a fiscal year price index
that we calculated based on a calendar year price index published by
the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis. Unless
otherwise specified, figures represent actual funding (not estimates),
with the exception of 1993, 1994, and 2004, where we present estimated
funding reported by CCSP because actual data are not available. For the
purposes of this testimony, the term "agency" includes executive
departments and agencies, and we use the term "account" to describe the
budget accounts, line items, programs, and activities presented in OMB
and CCSP reports. Throughout this testimony, we characterize all
climate change science reports from 1993 through 2004 as CCSP reports,
even though CCSP has been in existence only since 2002, and reports
prior to 2002 were published by a predecessor organization. Totals and
percentages may not add due to rounding.
[5] Pub. L. No. 101-606, 104 Stat. 3096 (1990) (partially terminated
pursuant to the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995,
Pub. L. No. 104-66, § 3003 (1995)).
[6] The annual reporting requirement for climate change expenditures
was terminated effective May 15, 2000. The reporting requirement had
called for "(A) the amounts spent during the fiscal year most recently
ended; (B) the amounts expected to be spent during the current fiscal
year; and (C) the amounts requested for the fiscal year for which the
budget is being submitted."
[7] To maintain consistency with OMB data, which are available from
1993 to 2004, we reviewed reported science funding from 1993 to 2004.
[8] Technology funding increased as a share of total funding over time,
while science and international assistance funding declined as shares
of the total because technology funding increased at a faster rate than
the other categories.
[9] We counted the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) account as
Nuclear Energy Supply funding for 2002. The NERI line item is counted
in the aggregate Energy Supply - Nuclear budget account in OMB's 2004
and 2005 reports, and is no longer presented separately.
[10] The $1.26 billion includes NASA's reported funding for the United
States Global Change Research Program. NASA funding for CCRI is
reported separately.
[11] CCSP's most recent report (July 2004) presents estimated 2004
funding, whereas OMB's most recent report (March 2005) presents actual
2004 funding. Whenever we compare 2004 science funding as reported by
OMB and CCSP, we are comparing estimated 2004 funding presented in
OMB's May 2004 report and CCSP's July 2004 report.
[12] The Department of the Treasury reported 2004 tax expenditures in
the Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2006 edition, Analytical
Perspectives volume, chapter 19.
[13] The Department of the Treasury calculated each tax expenditure
estimate assuming other parts of the tax code remained unchanged.
Because tax provisions can be interdependent, we do not report the
mathematical sum of the revenue losses estimated for the four climate-
related tax expenditures, and instead present this general gauge of the
magnitude of revenue forgone for climate-related tax expenditures.
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To order by Phone: Voice: (202) 512-6000 TDD: (202) 512-2537 Fax: (202)
512-6061:
To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs:
Contact:
Web site: www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov
Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470:
Congressional Relations:
Gloria Jarmon, Managing Director, JarmonG@gao.gov (202) 512-4400 U.S.
Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7125
Washington, D.C. 20548:
Public Affairs:
Paul Anderson, Managing Director, AndersonP1@gao.gov (202) 512-4800
U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7149
Washington, D.C. 20548:
