environment variables, output format & setting current date

Three questions:

1. In a script, how do I set the value of a date attr to the current
date. I've tried a few obvious approaches but nothing works yet.

2.If I do:
psql <db> -c "select current_date;"
I get:

date
------------
2002-02-23
(1 row)

I can use:
psql <db> -c "select current_date;" | tail -3 | head -1
to just get the date value, but is there simpler way?

And lastly, I believe there are a few environmental variables used to
control various PostgreSQL behaviours, eg: date/time format. Where is
there a list of these? (I can't find them in the docs)

Thanks

=============================================================================

_-''-_ <Brent Wood> b(dot)wood(at)niwa(dot)cri(dot)nz Ph: +64(4)386-0300
'o \/ NIWA, Box 14901,
> ) /\ Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand
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