Five forward-looking, large corporations, Nike, Starbucks, Levi Strauss, Sun Microsystems and Timberland, are the founding members of BICEP (Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy), which has been put together by CERES, a  coalition of investors, environmental and public interest organizations.

Last week, these leading corporations said that they want Congress to quickly pass strong legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote energy efficiency and invest in a clean energy economy.  They want to add a new voice to the debate on energy as an alternative to the energy extractors, producers and major users.  Their commitment is "to a pathway that will slow, stop and reverse the growth of U.S. emissions".

I went to the section on Starbucks to see why our major local coffee company is a part of this.  Here's the first sentence of the section on the reason for the participation of Starbucks.

"Why does a coffee company care about climate change? It’s simple. Climate change is a threat to any business that relies on an agricultural product like coffee. We are already seeing global rainfall and harvest patterns shift, hurting farming communities and shrinking the availability of usable land in coffee regions around the world. We believe that now is the time to increase our investments in solutions and strategies that address this crisis."

A PI article notes that another coalition, the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, "also urged Congress and the incoming Obama administration to work on climate protection legislation".  This coalition includes 26 corporations and six nonprofit organizations, including BP America, ConocoPhillips, DuPont, Ford and the Natural Resources Defense Council .  After looking at the companies involved and their principles, I have to assume that the U.S. Climate Action Partnership is one of the voices of the energy companies that BICEP is working to counter.  See for yourself.

The eight principles of BICEP are:

• Set short- and long-term greenhouse gas reduction targets
• Stimulate 'green' job growth
• Adopt national renewable portfolio standard
• Capture vast energy efficiency opportunities
• Boost investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon capture and storage technologies
• Establish cap-and-trade system with 100% auction of carbon allowances
• Encourage transportation for clean energy economy
• Limit construction of new coal plants to those that capture and store CO2

The six principles of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership are:

• Account for the global dimensions of climate change
• Create incentives for technology innovation
• Be environmentally effective
• Create economic opportunity and advantage
• Be fair to sectors disproportionately impacted
• Reward early action