California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

Scientists, environmentalists, government officials and industry leaders from around the
world meet today for a summit on greenhouse gas emissions that their host, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, hopes will highlight the economic benefits of pursuing green technologies.
The conference in Beverly Hills is an attempt by the governor to the U.N.  Schwarzenegger
has said he wants the summit to influence negotiations over a new global climate treaty,
which the U.N. hopes to finish by December 2009. Schwarzenegger's signed AB 32, California's
landmark emissions law in 2006 calling for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The law Schwarzenegger signed two years ago will require California's major polluters to cut
their emissions by about a third by 2020. While the law has been widely embraced by
environmentalists and green-technology firms, California regulators are just beginning the
difficult process of implementing it and industry groups have warned that it could send jobs
out of state.

Schwarzenegger has maintained that forcing utilities and businesses to cut emissions will
promote innovation. He says that will boost California's economy by fueling a boom in green
technology and saving money on electricity and fuel bills. The California summit will help local
governments and businesses learn how to begin taking steps to combat climate change, said
Richard Kinley, deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change.

The summit is funded entirely by businesses and nonprofit groups. It will feature sessions
intended to show how energy-intensive industries can reduce their energy use. The Schwarzenegger
administration has arranged for the carbon emissions associated with the conference to be offset by
sending money to environmental causes around the world.

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.