In August 2005, we issued a report on federal climate change funding for 1993 through 2004, as reported by OMB. Specifically, we reported on how (1) total funding and funding by category changed and whether funding data were comparable over time and (2) funding by agency changed and whether funding data were comparable over time. We found, among other things, that it was unclear whether funding changed as much as OMB reported because modifications in the format and content of OMB reports limited the comparability of funding data over time. For example, OMB reported that it expanded the definitions of some accounts to include more activities, but did not specify how it changed the definitions. We were also unable to compare climate-related tax expenditures over time because OMB reported data on proposed, but not on existing tax expenditures. Based on these findings, we recommended that OMB (1) use the same format for presenting data from year-to-year, to the extent that it could do so and remain in compliance with reporting requirements; (2) explain changes in report content or format when they are introduced; (3) include information on existing climate-related tax expenditures in its reports; and (4) use the same criteria for determining which tax expenditures to include as it uses for determining which accounts to include. Presenting tax expenditures alongside the related spending programs is a first step in providing a useful and accurate picture of the extent of federal support for climate change. In its April 2006 Federal Climate Change Expenditures Report to Congress—the first following our August 2005 report—OMB responded to our recommendations about report consistency and tax expenditures. The report stated that “to address GAO’s recommendations, reporting changes have been noted in table footnotes throughout this report and a summary table of climate funding from 2003 through 2007 has been provided.” The report also included existing tax expenditures that could contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. OMB’s most recent reports generally have kept the same structures, categories, definitions, and format as in past years and more clearly label funding data. Funding for climate change activities reported by OMB increased from $4.6 billion in 2003 to $8.8 billion in 2010. In recent years, both funding provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) and energy-related tax expenditures (some established in the Recovery Act) contributed significantly to the overall level of federal resources focused on climate change. Many federal entities manage climate change programs and activities, including those within EOP, and interagency committees and programs that coordinate the actions of individual agencies, reflecting a complex, crosscutting system. From 2003 through 2010, total federal funding for climate change activities reported by OMB increased from $4.6 billion to $8.8 billion (91 percent, or 62 percent after adjusting for inflation). Tax expenditures and funding provided in the Recovery Act are not included in this total to maintain consistency with our 2005 report on climate change funding. In annual reports and testimony before Congress, OMB reported climate change funding for 1993 through 2010 using four categories: Technology, which includes the research, development, and deployment of technologies and processes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase energy efficiency. For example, according to OMB’s reports on climate change expenditures, the activities counted in the technology category have the effect of stimulating the development and use of certain energy technologies, including renewable, low-carbon fossil, and nuclear technologies. Science, which includes research, modeling, and monitoring to better understand climate change; efforts to assess vulnerability to climate impacts; and programs to provide climate information to policymakers and the public. USGCRP also reports annually on funding for climate change science. International assistance, which helps developing countries to address climate change by, for example, providing funds for energy efficiency programs. Wildlife adaptation funding, which summarizes certain activities at the Department of the Interior designed to promote adaptation—adjustments to natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climate change. This category was described by OMB as an interim category in its June 2010 report because the Administration is developing criteria to systematically account for a broader suite of adaptation programs. As shown in figure 1, technology funding increased as a share of total federal climate change funding from 2003 through 2010 (from 56 to 63 percent), continuing the trend observed in our 2005 report on climate change funding. From 2003 through 2010, total technology funding increased from $2.56 billion to $5.5 billion (115 percent, or 83 percent after adjusting for inflation), according to OMB. Increases for Department of Energy (DOE) activities were the principal drivers of the growth in funding for technology activities, as they accounted for 80 percent of all technology activities in 2010. Increases within DOE programming were concentrated in the energy efficiency and renewable energy account. In comparison, total funding for climate change science programs and activities remained relatively flat, and funding for international activities only recently increased substantially. Specifically, OMB reported that funding for climate change science activities and programs increased from about $1.77 billion in 2003 to $2.12 billion in 2010 (20 percent, or 2 percent after adjusting for inflation). Funding for international assistance activities decreased from $270 million in 2003 to $227 million in 2008 (15.9 percent or 27 percent after adjusting for inflation), but then increased significantly in both 2009 and 2010. Specifically, international assistance funding increased to $373 million in 2009, and increased further to $1.08 billion in 2010 (an increase of 376 percent over 2008 totals), according to OMB. OMB’s June 2010 report introduced several changes in report content and format. Specifically, OMB reported $65 million in funding for the interim category of wildlife adaptation activities. Appendixes III, IV, and V present climate change funding by category, agency, and account, as reported by OMB. OMB reported $26.1 billion as funding for climate change programs and activities in the Recovery Act, dwarfing the $8.8 billion reported for similar activities in 2010. About 98 percent of this funding was for climate change technology projects, while the remainder was for science activities. We examined climate-related Recovery Act funding in several reports, including a review of DOE programs for innovative energy projects to help mitigate climate change. Figure 2 shows the four largest categories of funding for climate change programs in the Recovery Act, as reported by OMB. Recovery Act funding is presented separately in appendix V and is generally not included in summary tables cited in this report to maintain comparability with our 2005 report. OMB also reports 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. In 2010, OMB listed 11 tax expenditures and energy grants with revenue losses totaling $7.23 billion, approaching the reported funding of $8.8 billion for climate change programs and activities. This sum includes $3.1 billion for energy grants in lieu of technology and investment tax credits available under the Recovery Act. Figure 3 illustrates selected tax expenditure categories in 2010, as reported by OMB. The estimated revenue loss of $7.23 billion in 2010 from energy tax provisions that may reduce greenhouse gases is over 12 times the $580 million reported by OMB for 2003. Reported revenue loss from tax expenditures increased steadily from 2006 through 2008, averaging about $1.5 billion. Tax expenditures reported by OMB then jumped substantially to $2.92 billion in 2009 and $7.23 billion in 2010, reflecting, in part, certain grants authorized in the Recovery Act. Climate-related tax expenditures are presented separately in appendix VI and are generally not included in summary tables cited in this report to maintain comparability with our 2005 report. As illustrated in figure 4, climate change is a complex, crosscutting issue, where many federal entities manage related programs and activities. These include organizations within the EOP (colored blue), interagency committees (colored white), and interagency programs (colored green) that coordinate the actions of individual agencies. A September 2010 report by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), which was prepared for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Congress, referred to this set of federal activities as the federal “climate change enterprise.” The text that follows describes the roles of the entities involved in this enterprise. Four entities within EOP—represented by the blue boxes in figure 4— provide high-level policy direction for federal climate change programs and activities: OMB, OSTP, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and the Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy (OECC). These entities lead several new interagency initiatives—including formal and informal task forces and working groups discussed later in this report— and participate in other committees, programs, and activities. For example, OMB is closely involved with budgetary decision making at USGCRP, the interagency body that coordinates federal climate change science research. The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)—represented, along with subordinate committees, as the white boxes in figure 4— coordinates science and technology policy across the federal government. NSTC is composed of four primary committees, including the Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability (CENRS), which coordinates federal research and development related to environment, natural resources, and sustainability. CENRS is composed of several subcommittees, one of which—the Subcommittee on Global Change Research—serves as the interagency governing body for USGCRP. USGCRP and the Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP)—the green boxes in figure 4—coordinate federal climate change programs and activities at the agency level. Thirteen departments and agencies participate in USGCRP, and 12 participate in CCTP. CCTP and USGCRP coordinate through joint membership, according to technical comments from CEQ, OMB, and OSTP.