Green Times

On Friday, April 18, U.S. Governors and top state-level environmental officials will meet at Yale University to exchange ideas on how the state and the federal governments can develop a strategy for future action and combat global warming.

“This is the first time such a prestigious group of state officials have come together to have a serious discussion on climate change,” said Yale University President Richard C. Levin.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to host such an important event that hopefully will represent a turning point in how policymakers work together to address this global challenge.”

Governors who plan to attend the event include Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Jon Corzine of New Jersey, M. Jodi Rell of Connecticut, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Rod Blagojevich of Illinois.

Former EPA administrator and 50th Governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman, Quebec Premier Jean Charest, Manitoba Premier Gary Doer and Nobel Laureate R.K. Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will also participate. Representatives from Sonora, Mexico and the Czech Republic will join as observers.
Several of the governors will sign a climate change declaration that will highlight the need for “partnership” between the federal and state governments. In addition to the five governors attending the conference, at least 13 more have already agreed to sign the declaration. The combined populations of these states account for well over half of the U.S. population.

Yale has affirmed its commitment to sustainability, especially in reducing the university’s carbon footprint with an initiative to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to 10 percent below the 1990 level. Yale has already taken steps to improve the energy efficiency of its buildings, use renewable fuels, reduce electricity use, and invest in alternative energy.

Friday’s conference will also celebrate the centennial of President Theodore Roosevelt’s landmark 1908 Conference of Governors, which launched the modern conservation movement, planted the seed for the National Parks System, and inspired significant state efforts to protect land. The event will celebrate 100 years of state leadership on critical environmental issues, confront the present climate challenge, and set out a vision of a federal-state partnership for future action.

“Roosevelt showed remarkable foresight a century ago in engaging the states’ chief executive officers to preserve and protect the nation’s natural resources. Now, we face a new and critical challenge — global climate change — and leadership in the United States is coming once again from visionary state governors,” said Levin.

The following events on Friday, April 18, 2008 are open to the press and public and will take place at Yale’s Woolsey Hall (corner of Grove and College Streets):

10:30am-Discussion of Governors on Innovation by the States
– Moderated by Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes
– Governors Sebelius, Corzine and Blagojevich, Premiers Charest and Doer

1:30pm-Signing by Governors of Declaration on Climate Change + Public Address Declaration Signing
– Welcome addresses by President Levin and Governor Rell
– Governors Blagojevich, Corzine, Rell, and Sebelius
– Observers: Premiers Charest and Doer, Czech Environment Minister Martin Bursik, Sonoran Minister of Ecology Angel Lopez Guzman Public Address
– Introduction by Yale President Richard C. Levin
– Nobel Laureate Pachauri
– Governor Schwarzenegger

Governors Participating:
– California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
– Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell
– Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich
– Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius
– New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine Special Guests:
– Nobel Laureate R.K. Pachauri
– Quebec Premier Jean Charest
– Manitoba Premier Gary Doer
– Czech Republic Deputy Prime Minister Martin Bursik
– Christine Todd Whitman, Former EPA administrator and 50th Governor of New Jersey — Scott Pelley, Correspondent, 60 Minutes

States sending representatives on behalf of their Governors: Arizona, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Washington

States Signing the Policy Declaration:
1. Arizona
2. California
3. Colorado
4. Connecticut
5. Delaware
6. Florida
7. Illinois
8. Kansas
9. Maine
10. Maryland
11. Massachusetts
12. Michigan
13. New Jersey
14. New Mexico
15. New York
16. Oregon
17. Virginia
18. Washington

The 2008 Conference of Governors is jointly hosted by the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, the Yale Project on Climate Change, the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale, the Yale Office of Sustainability, and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Funding for the conference and its associated outreach materials was generously provided by the Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, the Energy Foundation, the 11th Hour Project, and the Oscar M. Ruebhausen Fund.

Source: Earthtimes.com, UK