Scientists To Debate Climate Law "Benefits"

Americans Will Pay For Climate Change Regulation, But Will They See Any Measurable Results?

Climatologists Gather To Debate: "How Much Climate Change Can Our Dollars Buy?"

Most experts agree that Americans will pay higher prices for almost everything when climate change laws and regulations are passed. But how much measurable change in the climate will consumers actually see?

Scientists and climatologists will debate this question at a workshop this Friday in Jackson, Wyoming during the 2008 Business Summit of the West (http://www.westernroundtable.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1508), sponsored by the Western Business Roundtable.

The scientists, all of whom differ on many aspects of climate science, will estimate what measurable changes in future climates Americans might see assuming the U.S. proceeds with substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

The workshop begins at 9 a.m. (Mountain) Friday. Reporters wishing to cover the event can do so by calling this listen-only phone number: *(616) 883-8055, access code 480-287-507. *A press availability with the climatologists will be conducted immediately following the workshop via two-way conference call.

Scientists participating in the workshop include these:

- Dr. Roy Spencer, principal research scientist for the University of Alabama-Huntsville and a former senior scientist for climate studies at NASA.

- Dr. Willie Soon, a physicist at the Solar and Stellar Physics Division of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and an astronomer at the Mount Wilson Observatory in southern California.

- Dr. George H. Taylor, a member of the faculty at Oregon State Universitys College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences and past president of the American Association of State Climatologists.

- Joe DAleo, a certified consultant meteorologist and former chairman of the American Meteorological Societys Committee on Weather Analysis and Forecasting.

"The climate-change debate is one of the most polarizing issues in America today," said Britt Weygandt, Executive Director of the Roundtable. "A wide range of studies show that Americans are to be paying more for energy, for food, for virtually all necessities of life. Its appropriate to also focus on the benefits side of of the cost-benefit equation. Thats the question we are asking."

The Business Summit of the West also features presentations and roundtable briefings on issues including energy rationing, climate costs, public lands access issues and water regulation in the West. T*he Summits full schedule can be seen here: http://www.westernroundtable.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1508.

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