Mid America Club Chicago, Illinois on August 20, 2007
URS Offices Conference Center Oakland, California on August 22, 2007
Perkins Coie LLP Conference Center Seattle, Washington on August 24, 2007

*The program will be the same for all venues with the exception of the luncheon address

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) regulation is no longer a debate in the United States. The federal government concedes the existence of global warming and its origin in human activities and the Supreme Court has declared it is EPA's responsibility to regulate GHG as a pollutant. The issue is, not whether, but how and when to regulate GHG. The Kyoto Protocol regulates GHG in a number of nations until 2012, when it is up for renewal. European cap and trade exchanges for carbon emissions are expected to trade emissions with a value of $30 billion in the third quarter of 2007. California has adopted mandatory controls to take effect in 2010. Legislatures in Washington and Oregon have similar programs under consideration. Seven Northeast states have joined in a regional greenhouse gas initiative ("RGGI") cap and trade program. California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Arizona recently formed a western states RGGI to cap and trade carbon emissions as well. Numerous bills to regulate carbon emissions are pending in Congress, and some should reach the President's desk this session (it is doubtful whether a cap and trade program will be adopted this session). Soon it will cost money to emit any GHG. Companies will be required to limit or reduce emissions by cleaning up their own facilities or, to the extent permitted, by buying greenhouse gas emission offsets. Many public companies already have greenhouse gas emission programs to inventory their emissions, assess opportunities to reduce the emissions, and to sell or acquire greenhouse gas emissions in open markets. In the United States, voluntary emission exchanges such as the Chicago Climate Exchange already trade securitized emissions credits.

Like clean air regulation, GHG issues are environmentally driven but they affect corporate governance and disclosure, directors' obligations, and due diligence for transactions. Many business leaders are aware of GHG issues; some have programs in place; some are not yet focusing on them. This conference will provide a sounding board for where your program is at, where to start if you haven’t yet and offer illustrate the types of resources available to develop a carbon management strategy.

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