NEWS FROM THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL

April 2, 2008
Vol. 38, No.125

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 For more information contact Phil Cherry, DNREC Office of the Secretary, 302-739-9000 or Melinda Carl or Melanie Rapp, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

 Delaware Announces Agreement on Climate Registry Protocol for Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

 Dover, Del. – As part of North America’s largest climate change initiative, Delaware announced today the agreement of a common greenhouse gas reporting standard, The Climate Registry’s General Reporting Protocol. The protocol defines the methodology for corporations, organizations, cities and counties to calculate, verify and publicly report greenhouse gas emissions and incorporates public comments from workshops held throughout North America.

“The Registry’s General Reporting Protocol provides comprehensive guidelines and common standards for voluntary reporting which are consistent across industry sectors and borders,” said Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Deputy Secretary David Small, who serves on The Climate Registry Board of Directors. “The protocol will reduce the burdens to our industries and reporting entities and will give us the ability to better monitor greenhouse gas emissions.”

The Climate Registry, North America’s largest climate change organization, has a board of directors from thirty-nine U.S. states, seven Canadian Provinces, six Mexican states, three tribal nations and the District of Columbia. The Registry serves as a nationally-recognized platform for credible and consistent greenhouse gas emissions reporting and promotes the full disclosure of these emissions while respecting business confidentiality.

Delaware, an original participant in the northeast Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the Eastern Climate Registry, was one of the first states to become a charter member of The Climate Registry, when Governor Ruth Ann Minner responded to the invitation to become a founding member in April 19, 2007. “We have a very strong interest in providing a national platform such as that envisioned by The Climate Registry for the voluntary and mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions,” wrote Governor Minner.

The city of Wilmington joined The Climate Registry on Dec. 21, 2007 – the first in Delaware and the second city in the nation to join.

Organizations that join The Climate Registry before May 1 will be considered “founding reporters” and will receive continued recognition for their outstanding environmental leadership in measuring and publicly reporting their greenhouse gas emissions on a voluntary basis.  Seventy-three leading corporations, non-profit organizations, cities and counties are currently reporting their greenhouse gas emissions to The Climate Registry.

 Greenhouse gases – the gases that cause climate change – are concentrated in the earth’s atmosphere and trap heat by blocking some of the long-wave energy the earth normally radiates back to space. The resulting “greenhouse effect” alters the atmosphere’s energy balance and affects the weather and the climate. Greenhouse gas emissions have skyrocketed over the past 150 years due to increased industrialization and energy consumption.

For more information contact, Phil Cherry, Director of Policy and Planning at 302-739-9000 or visit DNREC’s website, www.dnrec.delaware.gov/climatechange and click on “The Climate Registry”.