Chamber Stresses Economic Impact of Climate Change Policy for Tennessee

MORRISTOWN, TN—Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a group of national and state partners held a discussion to draw attention to the economic implications future climate change policy could have on Tennessee families, workers and businesses.

"Addressing greenhouse gas emissions means addressing economic policy," said William L. Kovacs, Chamber vice president for Environment, Technology and Regulatory Affairs. "The Senate tried to move legislation this year, and it failed partly because lawmakers are talking about carbon reductions while the American public wants to talk dollars and cents. These dialogues are designed to do just that: to get government, industry and consumers talking about costs."

Economic studies of the "Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act," an economy-wide cap-and-trade bill and the Senate's main climate change vehicle in 2008, projected loss of up to 80,000 jobs and $12.2 billion dollars in gross state product (GSP) by 2030 to Tennessee. Today's dialogue featured business leaders, government representatives, and policy and economic experts, and dealt with issues ranging from the costs of legislation like Lieberman-Warner to industry's voluntary efforts to reduce emissions and increase energy efficiency.

The Chamber co-hosted today's event with national partners the National Association of Manufacturers and the Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth, and state partners the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Tennessee Chamber of Commerce Executives. This is the sixth climate change dialogue held to date. Previous events were held in New Hampshire, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio and Alaska earlier this year; future dialogues will occur this fall in Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

"Tennessee's businesses and residents deserve to have their voice heard," continued Kovacs. "We are taking the debate over the costs of climate change policy out of Washington and where it truly belongs: to the American consumers who will have to pay the tab."

For more information on the climate change dialogues, please visit: www.yourenergyfuture.org/ or www.uschamber.com/environment.

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

http://www.uschamber.com/

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