Friday, Oct. 26, 2007
by Kevin J. Shay | Staff Writer
Businesses cannot afford to sit on the sidelines when it comes to dealing with expected climate changes, Norman Augustine said at this week’s national conference at the University of Maryland, College Park.
‘‘There will need to be many facets to businesses’ response to global climate change,” said Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda.
Those include looking at economic measures, such as an incentive to reduce the air pollution emissions known as ‘‘cap and trade,” he said.
Under such a system, a governing body such as a city council or state legislature sets a limit on the amount of pollutants that can legally be emitted by a company or group. Companies or organizations that want to exceed that limit can purchase credits from those that pollute less, thus the ‘‘trade” component.
Maryland this year joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap and trade program designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
Nine other mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states are involved in the program, which is slated to officially begin in 2009.
Coming up with cleaner coal technologies, working with biofuels and nuclear energy are also measures companies should consider, Augustine said.
Businesses can also switch their energy usage to renewable forms such as wind power, said Gary Skulnik, president of Clean Currents LLC of Rockville, which brokers renewable energy to clients. Those include Strosniders, the first hardware store chain in the state to switch to wind-generated electricity. Skulnik also recommends that businesses invest in more energy-efficient appliances and practice conservation in their workplaces.
‘‘They can work with employees to reduce their carbon footprint as well,” he said.
Making sure new homes and buildings are designed with energy efficiency in mind — known as ‘‘green building” standards — is also part of the equation, said Douglas M. Duncan, vice president for administrative affairs at the University of Maryland, College Park, and former Montgomery County executive.
While homebuilders have responded to consumers’ and regulators’ desires for ‘‘green buildings,” part of the problem is that no one really knows exactly what that means, said David A. Crowe, senior staff vice president for regulatory and housing policy at the National Association of Home Builders, a Washington, D.C., trade group.
‘‘It’s a feeling, it’s a desire,” Crowe said. ‘‘There is not a lot of guidance out there. ... We’re developing our own green building standards.”
