The Bay Area Council is a proud first-mover on public policy related to global warming and climate change. Building on an unrelenting sixty-year commitment to a better environment in our region, in the past decade the Council has accelerated and expanded its work, becoming the key business group to help pass the most important recent environmental policy changes in California.

AB-32
The Bay Area Council began work on AB 32 (the California Global Warming Solutions Act) two years before its eventual passage. When progress shifted into high gear, we discussed the bill with many of our members and our Energy Committee – a collection of the region’s most powerful energy companies – and on June 28, the Council’s Executive Committee voted to adopt a supportive position on AB 32. We were the first major business group to step forward in this manner. The Council’s staff doggedly worked with the bills authors, their staff, and the Governor's administration – including a key meeting with the Governor’s Chief of Staff, Susan Kennedy – on the details, including our desired amendments to allow a market-based system and provide “Early Action Credits.”

Our members met with legislators, sent in notes, faxes and phone calls pushing for an appropriate version of this bill that would enable innovation, not heavy-handed regulation, to achieve a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, while preserving California's business climate. We wrote op eds, and stood tall on our soapbox participating in hundreds of media stories.

Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council, was proud to be on the stage on September 27, 2006 as Governor Schwarzenegger signed the bill, thereby sealing a monument of compromise for the common good – especially between environmental and business leaders.

The Million Solar Roofs Initiative
When Sacramento politics blocked passage of the “Million Solar Roofs” initiative, the Bay Area Council worked with Governor Schwarzenegger, Public Utilities Commission (PUC) President Michael Peevey and New Voices of Business CEO Elliott Hoffman to push the initiative through the PUC instead. The Bay Area Council’s Energy Committee supported the initiative on the basis that the cost of subsidizing the program were equitably distributed between business and residential ratepayers, which was achieved.

Publicly, our organization lined up critical business support when others wavered. Bay Area Council members and friends sent in more than 250 faxes and notes of support for the program. In the background, Council Vice President Andrew Michael helped hammer out the details.

As a result, on January 12, 2006, the PUC passed the initiative providing about $2.8 billion in solar subsidies over the next decade. It could put solar panels on the roofs of 1 million California houses and generate 3,000 megawatts of power. Those involved have thanked us for our “courageous leadership position” and said we “deserve kudos from all Californians.”

Carbon Trading Symposium
Soon after the signing of AB32, the Bay Area Council partnered with the British Consulate to offer a timely briefing to our members, plus the media, on carbon markets. It was titled: “Preparing for Global Warming Solutions Act: How Carbon Trading Will Affect Your Company, Based on the UK Experience.” The standing room-only event featured Britain’s top government officials on carbon trading discussing the experiences of the UK with regard to market mechanisms and how they impact business. Begun in 2002, the UK emissions trading scheme is the world's first voluntary economy-wide greenhouse gas voluntary emissions trading scheme. The EU’s mandatory cap-and-trade system, begun in 2005, is the world's largest. We learned about both markets.

Renewable Energy Symposium
In July of 2006, the Bay Area Council partnered with The Center for Resource Solutions to create a half-day symposium for Bay Area business community leaders to learn about renewable energy options. The symposium connected businesses, such as Yahoo! and Levi Strauss with top experts in the renewable energy industry ranging from new renewable energy options to ways to communicate renewable energy use to their customers, to investment opportunities in renewable energy. 3 Phases Energy Services donated enough Green-e certified renewable energy certificates to offset the electricity used in the symposium.

Formation of Business Council on Climate Change
Drawing worldwide media attention, the Bay Area Council, the United Nations Global Compact and the City of San Francisco united a wide array of Bay Area businesses, including Google and PG&E, in a unique partnership designed to provide meaningful actions that businesses around the world can take to combat global warming. The program, called Business Council on Climate Change (BC3), gives Bay Area businesses a forum to share best practices to reduce greenhouse gasses in both large and small businesses. BC3 member companies pledge to address greenhouse emissions throughout their operations and corporate cultures, and agree to follow the BC3’s five Principles for Climate Leadership: Internal Implementation, Community Leadership, Advocacy and Dialogue, Collective Action, Transparency and Disclosure. BC3 provides expert information from climate professionals to help member businesses achieve greenhouse gas reductions, which these businesses in turn share with other.

Presented the United Nations’ Global Compact to Members
When the United Nations held World Environment Day in the Bay Area in 2005, the Bay Area Council – partnering with the Gap and Hewlett-Packard – presented the United Nations Global Compact for willing members to sign. The Global Compact is the largest voluntary corporate responsibility initiative in the world, with more than 2,000 companies participating from over 70 countries. By signing a company or government agrees to ten principles of the Global Compact with respect to human rights, labor standards, the protection of the environment, and anti-corruption. Several companies signed the Global Compact at a reception attended by mayors from around the world.

EnergyStar Agreement
In June of 2002, the Bay Area Council entered into an agreement with the United States Environmental Agency (EPA) to promote EPA’s ENERGY STAR partnership. The goal was to encourage building owners and managers to use proven energy efficient technologies to eliminate waste and lower operating costs, linking energy and financial performance. The program provided partners with software tools and training, at no cost, to put participants on the path of turning energy savings into financial value.

Environmental Best Practices
In April of 2002, the Bay Area Council launched its Environmental Best Practices program to assist businesses and employers in enhancing environmental responsibility. The program allowed businesses to confidentially assess their environmental procedures, receive immediate feedback and find out how they compare to others in the region. Participants in the program completed an online Top 40 checklist and survey. The survey was then anonymously compiled and displayed in a variety of confidential charts, and pointed participants to a set of more than 300 Environmental Best Practice resources to help improve their procedures.

The survey specifically helped employers discover:
• How would your company's environmental performance stack up in comparison to community peers?
• How would your company answer when consumers or investors ask about your environmental record?
• Did their company have the vision and tools for effective corporate environmental management that meet the broader challenges of sustainable development?