Business Leaders, Elected Officials and Regulators in the Green Business Marketplace See Opportunities Ahead 

Hundreds of Elected Officials, Entrepreneurs, Executives, Financiers and Environmental Stewards at the VerdeXchange Conference Identified the Climate Change Solutions Driving the Growing Green Economy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 28, 2009

LOS ANGELES– On January 26, 2009, just six days after the inauguration of President Obama, and on the same day he signed an executive order reversing the Bush administration’s efforts to block California’s aggressive tailpipe emissions law (AB 1493), a sold-out conference of more than 500 clean energy and green technology entrepreneurs, financiers, government officials, regulators, global environmental stewards, utility executives, product manufacturers, and consular corps trade representatives gathered in Los Angeles to discuss how climate change solutions are driving the green economy.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), who spoke at the conference, said that, along with California’s other groundbreaking climate change initiatives, “AB 1493 is a model that the Obama administration and the new Congress—whose energy and environmental leadership is heavily stacked with California leaders—will look to in designing new federal policy.”

Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board—the agency tasked with the implementation of California’s AB 32 and the tailpipe standards currently under review by the Obama administration—delivered the luncheon keynote address to a packed house of attendees looking to strategically position themselves to take advantage of the emerging green economy. “The goal of California’s climate change initiatives,” Nichols declared, “is to achieve a real transformation in our energy economy.”

The 2009 VerdeXchange Conference brought high level public and private sector leaders from around the world to Los Angeles to discuss this rapidly expanding market for clean energy, green technology and sustainable products and practices. The event provided a venue for these leaders to come together and learn about the newest and best products and services.

International attendees were particularly interested in the investment and trade opportunities associated with California’s green economy. The need for businesses to meet tough new environmental standards means capital investment in new clean technologies and products. Leading Japanese entrepreneurs, bankers, trade representatives and journalists were on hand to represent Japanese clean tech and investment interests with Yoshiyuki Kasai, chairman of the Central Japan Railway Company, who emphasized, “it is time for a US-Japan partnership on climate change.”

With distinctive geographic advantages for renewable energy production and distribution, California and the Western states are a proving ground for aggressive climate change regulations and emerging clean technology. They are clearly leading the nation in what Thomas Friedman calls, “the earth race.”

The conference also addressed the increasing potential for green jobs in California and around the world, emphasizing the role that universities, government at all levels and the private sector must play in developing the green workforce.

VerdeXchange Chair and Managing Director David Abel noted, “The success of this event underscores both the national and global significance of California’s efforts to address climate change.”

He added, “This year’s conference created remarkable momentum and tremendous business opportunities, and we look forward to furthering the discussion next year at our 2010 conference.”

The day’s roster of speakers and attendees included: Former U.S. Cabinet Secretary of Transportation and Commerce Norm Mineta; Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon); Former U.S. Cabinet Secretary of Commerce and US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor; Founder and Chairman of G24 Innovations and former California Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg; Chairman of the Central Japan Railway Company Yoshiyuki Kasai; Scientific Advisor to the German Green Party Dr. Michael Weltzin; Director and Executive Producer of the Academy Award winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" Davis Guggenheim; Co-Founder of Greenpeace and Co-Chair Clean & Safe Energy Coalition Dr. Patrick Moore, Ph.d.; Managing Partner of Rustic Canyon Tom Unterman; California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer; Senator Fran Pavley (D-Los Angeles); Corporate Director of the Stanford Research Institute International Alex N. Beavers Jr., Ph.d.; Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; CPUC President Michael Peevey; LADWP General Manager David Nahai; Canada’s Consul General in Los Angeles David Fransen; LAEDC CEO Bill Allen; Port of Long Beach Harbor Commission President James Hankla; Bay Area Council CEO and President Jim Wunderman; Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky; and Los Angeles Times Editorial Page Editor Jim Newton.

CONTACT:

David Abel, VerdeXchange

(213) 623-3801

david@verdexchange.org

mailto:Amy.rocha@edelman.com 

About the VerdeXchange Green Marketmakers Conference

VerdeXchange Conference is the one event for green marketmakers who want to take advantage of the opportunities created by a new federal administration and California’s market-defining climate change initiatives. For more information about the conference, please visit:
http://www.verdexchange.org/conference.