The EPA announcement is a welcome one and it has been long time coming. We must slow the effects of climate change and that means reducing emissions. You cannot manage what you do not measure, so the absolute first order is to establish the baseline carbon footprint--at the organizational (corporate et al) level, municipal level, regional, state and national level. Then and only then can we begin to reduce our emissions. If anyone is looking for resources to help them prepare for the EPA reporting rules, CSA (World Secretariat for the development of ISO 14064, an international carbon accounting standard) has developed a suite with the goal of 'carbon performance made simple' that includes an independent ghg registry, training, advisory services to help measure and manage the footprint, standards and personnel certification for carbon consultants, ghg quantifiers and ghg verifiers.

Tilde Herrera's breakdown of the Waxman-Markey draft climate bill outlines some of the very reasons that businesses like Timberland support federal climate change legislation. For too long, both businesses and individual consumers have not paid for their impacts on the environment - and we cannot continue to undervalue (or perhaps completely ignore) the reality of environmental challenges our society faces. In the short term, it may seem like we would all pay more for energy; however, in the long term, putting a price on carbon and other environmental "externalities" will help the economy grow sustainably. While there are many details that have yet to be worked out regarding this bill's robustness, strict carbon legislation are needed. This is one of the reasons Timberland joined BICEP, a coalition of consumer-facing brands committed to leveraging our business influence to help bring about policy change in the U.S. We support 100% auction of carbon allowances, but legislators must be careful to not create a trading scheme that would have the same results as the EU's failed market. Time is short - but the imperative is great to bring about such policy change.

- Beth Holzman, The Timberland Company