Environmental Leader

Aspen Skiing Company, Clif Bar & Company, and Seventh Generation have joined the new coalition Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP). These businesses are in good company. Inaugural members are Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, Starbucks, Sun Microsystems and The Timberland Co. Other members include eBay, Gap and Symantec.

The announcement was made at a Ceres annual conference in San Francisco. The new coalition, which supports strong U.S. climate and energy policies in 2009 to spur development of a clean energy economy in America and reduce global warming pollution, is coordinated by Ceres.

BICEP members said an emphasis on energy efficiency and renewable energy provides the least expensive way forward for addressing climate change and transitioning to a clean energy economy.

Sarah Severn, Ceres member and director of Horizons for Corporate Responsibility at Nike, told KQED Radio in a recent interview that the group is pushing for climate change legislation because there is a need for a firm price on carbon. “Without a firm price on carbon, you’re not going to unleash the type of innovation we need to move us towards a low-carbon economy in this country.”

The Ceres group issued a statement last week supporting the core principles of the Waxman/Markey climate and energy bill introduced in Congress on March 31. The group supports the bill because it emphasizes “efficiency and renewable energy for those of us operating in the U.S. and that is really core to what needs to happen in terms of a shift to a low-carbon economy,” said Severn.

Nike, along with the coalition, believes it’s important to push for renewable energy and the promotion of energy independence. The group’s core principles also include promoting clean energy jobs, requiring the auction of all carbon allowances and limiting new coal-fired power plants to those that capture and store carbon emissions.