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NOTE - this March 18 E2Tech Forum will be held in Augusta, Maine, 8 - 10:30 AM. 

It will be a panel discussion on the Economic and Business Perspectives of Federal Climate Legislation.  This special E2Tech forum is being co-sponsored with the Natural Resources Council of Maine and Clean Air – Cool Planet.  The program will explore the economics of climate change legislation, the impact of the EPA and the SEC in the absence of a comprehensive bill, and the impact on business.

Federal legislation to reduce carbon emissions and accelerate a transition to a clean energy economy is currently being debated in Washington DC, but there is growing uncertainty about what will happen to the legislation in the US Senate.  Attendees at this special E2Tech forum will learn about some economic and business perspectives on these efforts.

The American Clean Energy & Security Act bill passed the House in 2009, and several bills are in front of the Senate including the Boxer-Kerry and Cantwell-Collins bills.  A vote on climate and clean energy legislation is expected in the next few months with Maine’s Senators likely playing critical roles.  In addition, against this backdrop there is a recent Securities and Exchange Commission finding that corporations must declare their carbon footprint impacts in their financial reports just as they declare other potential business risks, an issue that impacts every corporation in Maine from Main Street to every industrial park.

At this special joint E2 Tech /Natural Resources Council of Maine / Clean Air – Cool Planet Forum hear from internationally recognized economist Tom Tietenberg, emeritus professor from Colby College, about the key policy choices before Congress.

While larger firms are addressing their carbon footprint, or talking to their congressional representatives, small to medium sized firms may still not comprehend the risk and opportunities of climate change.  Joe Keefe, CEO & President of Pax World Funds and the Co-Chair of the Carbon Coalition, will talk directly to this segment of the business community so they might better address these critical issues. 

In addition, Harrison Horning from Hannaford Bros. Inc will share his perspectives on what this legislation might mean for Maine businesses, including Maine’s efforts to increase energy efficiency and leadership on renewable energy.  

Presenters’ bios: 

Thomas H. Tietenberg, retired Mitchell Family Professor of Economics, Colby College

Tom is the author or editor of eleven books (including Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, one of the best selling textbooks in the field, and Emissions Trading, one of the most widely cited books in the tradable permits literature) as well as over one hundred articles and essays on environmental and natural resource economics.

Elected President of the Association of Environmental and Natural Resource Economists (AERE) in 1987-8, he has consulted on environmental policy with the World Bank, the InterAmerican Development Bank, the Agency for International Development and the Environmental Protection Agency as well as several state and foreign governments. 

Tom attended and spoke at the first Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 and has lectured on sustainable development at many international conferences.  In 2006 he was designated one of six inaugural AERE Fellows.

Joseph F. Keefe, President and CEO, Pax World Management Corp.

Pax World Funds, headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, launched the nation’s first socially responsible mutual fund in 1971, and currently manages approximately $2.4 billion in assets across eleven mutual funds and separately managed accounts.  Under Joe’s leadership, Pax World has become one of the leading innovators and asset managers in the rapidly-growing field of Sustainable Investing – the full integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment analysis and decision making.  Pax World was one of two asset management firms that joined with 21 other institutional investment representatives to petition the SEC in 2007 to issue interpretive guidance on climate risk disclosure, which the SEC went on to issue in January of this year.

Prior to joining Pax World, Joe was President of NewCircle Communications, a strategic consulting and communications firm whose clients included many of the leading firms in the Sustainable Investing industry.  He also served as Senior Adviser for Strategic Social Policy at Calvert Group, from 2003 – 2005, and from 1997 to 2000 was Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Citizens Advisers, investment advisor to Citizens Funds. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Social Investment Forum (2000 – 2006), the industry association representing Sustainable Investing asset managers and investment professionals throughout the United States.  Joe has also spoken and written extensively about Sustainable Investing in a series of speeches and articles that have been carried by The Huffington Post, Investment News, Boomer Magazine, Green Money Journal and SocialFunds.com, and are available on the Pax World web site (www.paxworld.com).  He was named by Ethisphere Magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics” for 2007 and again for 2008. Before entering the investment field, Joe was in private law practice for 16 years.

He received a BA in Philosophy from the College of the Holy Cross, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Harrison Horning, Director of Energy and Facility Services, Hannaford Bros. Co., Scarborough, Maine

Hannaford Bros. Co., a subsidiary of the Delhaize Group of Brussels, Belgium, operates 171 supermarkets in five northeastern states.  Mr. Horning has held this position for two years, having previously served as Energy Manager at Hannaford for seven years during which he implemented innovative systems and processes to reduce energy expenses and environmental impacts.  His current work includes collaborative efforts to address sustainability and climate change.

Harrison has over 20 years of experience in the field of facilities and energy management, encompassing a wide range of commercial, industrial and institutional facilities.  Prior to joining Hannaford he was employed by the University of Southern Maine, EnergyUSA, Central Maine Power Company, Bath Iron Works, the University of Arizona, and General Dynamics.  He is a licensed Professional Engineer and a Certified Energy Manager, and is a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA).

He received a BS in Nuclear Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a MS in Energy Engineering from the University of Arizona.