A state program aimed at encouraging Granite State businesses to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions has been slow getting started.
The Program launched in 1999, but only one company has stepped up to join New Hampshire's greenhouse gas registry.
Still many scientists say cutting such emissions is the key to controlling global warming and numerous health problems.
NHPR correspondent Brian McWilliams has this
It's no surprise that organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm is on the leading edge of many environmental business issues.
BEING earth-friendly is part of the corporate branding strategy at the Londonderry-based firm.
But what may be surprising is the motivation for the latest of what Stonyfield Farm calls its "earth actions.?
IT?S BECOME the first company in New Hampshire to join a program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Stonyfield Farm founder and CEO Gary Hirschberg says profit concerns were as important as his worries about climate change.
According to Hirschberg, if you reduce greenhouse gas or GHG emissions, you almost always cut your energy costs.
"We've generated over $4 million in savings in the last eight years. We've prevented 7,500 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. But believe me, the real number that we and particularly my CFO focuses on is that $4 million."
Created in 1999, the greenhouse gas program was supposed to provide an incentive for companies to cut their carbon dioxide, methane, and other GHG (YOU?RE JUST WRITING GHG?.YOU WON?T READ GHG?) emissions.
Those emissions have been linked to climate change, health problems, and other negative impacts.
So why did it take several years for even one of the most environmentally conscious businesses to step up and participate?
Joanne Morin is energy programs manager for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.
DES administers the GHG registry program.
Morin admits that the registry has gotten off to a slow start.
She says companies need to be able to closely track energy use before they can participate.
And many firms don't have such tracking systems in place.
"I've been working with companies for a couple of years, and trying to help them do the calculations. What I've found is that companies are interested in it. But with times being so hard right now, most people are strapped for time. And they have a hard time putting aside a project to try to examine what they've done and what their emissions are."
Morin says she hopes six additional companies will join the registry this year.
But there may be another big reason why so few New Hampshire businesses have signed up for the program.
One of the registry's main financial incentives has yet to materialize.
The program was supposed to provide what are called "pollution credits" to forward-thinking businesses that reduce their GHG emissions.
Once the federal government sets POLLUTION limits, companies that have earned credits can sell or trade them to firms that have been slower to deal with the problem.
At least that was the vision of the New Hampshire registry's planners when they conceived the program during the Clinton administration.
At the time, federal greenhouse gas regulation seemed almost certain.
But years have ticked by, and so far Washington hasn't taken any major action TO address the climate change issue.
State Senator Burt Cohen is one of the co-sponsors of the legislation that created New Hampshire's GHG reduction program.
"Since very little is being done at the federal level,
that certainly de-incentivizes participation in the registry. It's something that still needs to be done, and I believe there will be more pressure to do something to clean up greenhouse gas emissions in the future. But now, there's not a lot of focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the Bush administration, and that's too bad."
But some experts say it's just a matter of time before federal lawmakers recognize both the economic and environmental impact of global CLIMATE CHANGE.
Charlie Niebling is policy director for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.
"The implications of climate change are becoming more apparent and better understood and more widely accepted. And I think most savvy business don't want to get caught behind the eight ball on something that ultimately could have financial implications to their bottom line. And if they see the opportunity to benefit financially by having credits to sell, if they're smart and they're good business people, they're going to take advantage of it."
For NHPR News, I'm Brian McWilliams.
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