Social Science Acronyms

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ANWR

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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; federal lands in Alaska opened to drilling by the Reagan Administration, in order to increase access to domestic oil supplies

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CAA

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Clean Air Act; a U.S. federal law passed originally in 1963 designed to control national air pollution; comprehensive version passed in 1970 is generally viewed as the most successful piece of environmental legislation every passed

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CAES

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compressed air energy source; a way to store energy generated at one time for use at another time using compressed air. At utility scale, energy generated during periods of low energy demand (off-peak) can be released to meet higher demand (peak load) periods.

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CAFE

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Corporate Average Fuel Economy; First enacted by Congress in 1975, CAFE regulations are meant to increase the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks sold in the United States.

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CBDR

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Common but Differentiated Responsibility; a core tenet of international environmental law; In the context of climate change, CBDR recognizes (1) industrialized countries have over time emitted vast amounts of greenhouse gases and are thus the primary historical culprits behind our current climate predicament; and (2) that developing countries have a legitimate need to pursue economic development. As a result, the concept of CBDR places the initial onus for climate mitigation activities on the developed world.

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CCS

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carbon capture and storage; the process of capturing waste carbon dioxide from power plants, transporting it to a storage site, and depositing it underground so that it will not enter the atmosphere

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CEQ

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The Council on Environmental Quality; established by National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1970 in order to oversee implementation; housed within the Executive Office of the President

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CERCLA

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Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act; a.k.a. SUPERFUND

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CFCs

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chlorofluorocarbons; organic compounds widely used as refrigerants, propellants, and solvents whose manufacture has been phased out by the Montreal Protocol (which entered into force in 1989) because they contribute to ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere

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CFLs

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compact fluorescent lights

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CHP

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combined heat and power

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CSP

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concentrating solar power

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CWA

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Clean Water Act; a U.S. federal law passed in 1972 that governs water pollution by establishing the goal of eliminating the release of toxic substances into water and ensuring that surface waters meet standards necessary to support human sports and recreation

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EES

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electrical energy storage

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EIA

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Energy Information Administration; The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 established EIA as the primary federal government authority on energy statistics and analysis

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EISA

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Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007; Passed by the 110th Congress in 2007, EISA's purpose was to move the U.S. toward greater energy independence and security by increasing the production of renewable fuels; increasing energy efficiency in products, buildings, and vehicles; improving the energy performance of the Federal Government; and promoting research for carbon capture and sequestration.

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EPA

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Environmental Protection Agency; a U.S. federal agency created in 1970 to protect human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress.

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EPAct

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Energy Policy Act of 1992; Passed in 1992 by the 102nd Congress, this law set goals, created mandates, and amended utility laws to increase clean energy usage and improve energy efficiency in the United States. AMENDMENT: Energy Policy Act of 2005 - an act that provided tax incentives and loan guarantees for renewable energy and coal and also exempted oil and gas producers from certain requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act

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EPCA

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Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975; first law of its kind, EPCA contained a number of progressive provisions to reduce U.S. reliance on imported oil, increase energy production and supply, reduce energy demand, promote cleaner sources of energy, extend price controls on oil, and convey additional powers to the Executive Branch so it could more readily respond to energy disruptions. It codified Ford's SPR (Strategic Petroleum Reserve) to serve as a buffer and it imposed the first ever fuel-efficiency vehicle standards (CAFE).

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ESA

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Endangered Species Act; designed to protect and recover at-risk species and ecosystems; administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

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EV

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electric vehicle

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EWG

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exempt wholesale generator; new category of power generators thta could generate and sell electricity wholesale without being regulated by PUHCA; created by 1992 EPAct, which amended PUHCA .

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FPC

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Federal Power Commission; the 1938 Natural Gas Act empowered the FPC to regulate rates for interstate pipelines, but exempted the actual production of natural gas from federal oversight; this began the destabilization of the natural gas industry. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the FPC must regulate natural gas prices at the wellhead, as well, which meant the FPC had to set a complex series of price controls and decide what was a "fair" profit level for every natural gas producer in the country.

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GHGs

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greenhouse gases; In the right quantities, GHGs ensure a relatively constant average surface temperature of 58 degrees F, but a build up of GHGs causes a rise in avg. surface temperature (global warming)

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IEA

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International Energy Agency; an intergovernmental organization established in 1974 (in response to the 1973 oil crisis) to act as a policy advisor to its member states

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IPCC

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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; an international scientific intergovernmental organization established in 1988 by the United Nations to provide comprehensive assessments of current scientific, technical, and socioeconomic information about the risks of climate change

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ITC

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investment tax credit; The Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is a tax incentive for development and deployment of renewable energy technologies which reduces federal income taxes for capital investment in renewable energy projects

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LEDs

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light-emitting diodes; semiconductor light sources used as indicator lamps in many devices and for general lighting

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NEPA

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National Environmental Policy Act of 1970; a 1970 U.S. environmental law that established a national policy of protecting the environment and created the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)

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NPDES

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National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System; the Clean Water Act of 1972 authorized the EPA to set effluent limits on water quality and implement the NPDES, which controls direct discharges into navigable waters through a permit system

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NRDC

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Natural Resources Defense Council; a nonprofit international environmental advocacy group established to seek sustainable policies from

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OECD

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Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development; international organisation helping governments tackle the economic, social and governance challenges of a globalized economy.

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OPEC

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Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries; an intergovernmental organization formed in 1960 whose mission is to coordinate the policies of oil-producing countries, and secure a steady income for the member states and a supply of oil for its consumers; its current member states include Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

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PHS

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pumped hydro storage

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PTC

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production tax credit ; The PTC is a tax incentive for the development and deployment of renewable energy technologies which reduces federal income taxes for companies that generate electricity from renewable sources. It provides a 2.3-cent per kilowatt-hour (kWh) incentive for the first ten years of a renewable energy facility's operation. (Expired at end of 2013.)

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PUC

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public utility commission; a governing body that regulates the rates and services of a public utility within a state

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PUHCA

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Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935; PUHCA was passed to regulate electric utilities by either limiting their operations to a single state or by forcing divestitures so that each became a single integrated system limited to a single state. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 repealed PUHCA in its entirety.

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PURPA

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Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978; Passed as part of the National Energy Act, PURPA helped enable some domestic renewable energy use by forcing electric utilities to buy power from non-traditional power producers.

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PV

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photovoltaic; a method of generating electricity by converting solar radiation (sunlight) into direct current electricity using semiconductors

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QF

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qualifying facilities

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RCRA

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Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976; Enacted in 1976, this is the principal U.S. federal law that governs the disposal of solid and hazardous waste.

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RFS

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Renewable Fuel Standard; Created under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and strengthened by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the RFS program requires transportation fuels sold in the U.S. to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels.

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RPS

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Renewable Portfolio Standard; a regulation that requires the increased production of energy from renewable energy sources

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SDWA

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Safe Drinking Water Act; Passed in 1974, the SDWA is a federal law that required the Environmental Protection Agency to set and enforce standards for drinking water quality for the public.

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SMR

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Small Modular Reactor; SMRs are a new nuclear power plant design with an output of less than 300 MW; they are considered more efficient and secure than traditional nuclear power plants.

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SPR

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Strategic Petroleum Reserve; an emergency oil supply maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy

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UNFCCC

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United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) ; the primary international treaty for coordinating global efforts to address climate change

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DDT

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Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane; an organochlorine insecticide used in World War II to combat malaria and typhus among civilians and troops; its negative environmental and human health impacts were explored in Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.

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NEA

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National Energy Act of 1978 - a legislative response by Congress to the 1973 energy crisis; it includes the following statutes: the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, the Energy Tax Act, the National Energy Conservation Policy Act, the Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act, and the Natural Gas Policy Act.

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NECPA

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National Energy Conservation Policy Act - Passed into law in 1978, this Act serves as the foundation of most current energy requirements and is the underlying authority for Federal energy management goals and requirements.