The members of BICEP firmly believe that a vibrant economy requires the certainty derived from effective and meaningful climate change regulation, which places a cost on carbon emissions, creates incentives for true innovation, and ensures public investment in renewable technologies and environmentally sustainable jobs. Learn more about our member companies and their committments to addressing climate change below.

Aspen Skiing Company

Aspen Skiing Company is a four season mountain resort in Colorado. We employ 3,400 people in winter and own four ski mountains, two hotels, a golf course, and 15 restaurants on  5,000 acres of skiable terrain. We strongly believe that the scope and scale of the climate problem means businesses need to rethink their approach to climate change. While reducing corporate carbon footprints is important, it won’t be enough if we have to move rapidly on durable solutions in the next decade, as climate scientists tell us is necessary. For that reason, while ASC has implemented industry leading energy efficiency and renewable energy problems, we see our primary role as one of policy advocacy. Our work with BICEP is far and away the most important work we’ve ever undertaken as a company, on any front.

Clif Bar & Company

Clif Bar's Climate Action program, launched in 2002, has three key goals:  

• To reduce our use of fossil fuels wherever we can, throughout our supply chain;
• To offset our corporate climate footprint by helping to build new sources of renewable energy that create social and environmental benefits;
• To help build and support the climate movement.

We recognize that the most important step we've made in reducing our own climate impact is our transition to using organic ingredients in all our products. Organic farming is a powerful tool in the fight against global warming. Organic agricultural methods significantly reduce the use of fossil fuels and petroleum-based chemicals on the farm. In addition, organic farming stores up carbon in the soil as it builds up soil fertility, instead of releasing it to the atmosphere where it contributes to global warming.

 
Clif Bar has measured and offset the CO2 emissions generated by energy use by our office, bakeries, business travel and by shipping our products to our customers. At the office we support a Cool Commute and Cool Home program to help  our employees reduce their own carbon footprint. We've also created a variety of consumer outreach programs including the SOS tour (Save our Snow), GreenNotes (to help musicians and fans reduce their environmental impact) and the 2 Mile Challenge (to promoting cycling instead of driving for trips two miles or less). Clif Bar also sponsors the National Teach-in on Global Warming Solutions, a program engaging thousands of schools, businesses and faith communities in climate change education in their communities.

eBay

eBay Inc. connects hundreds of millions of buyers and sellers around the world by providing the internet platforms of choice for global commerce, payments and communications.We believe that solutions to the climate change crisis will require actors from all sectors of society – individuals, governments and businesses – working in concert. We embrace our unique opportunity to leverage our platforms to promote savvier, more sustainable consumption, while also striving to minimize the environmental impact of our direct operations.

As the world’s largest secondary marketplace, eBay extends the useful life of products, rescues items before obsolescence, and reduces demand for new products – all of which has a positive climate impact when compared to buying new products. Over $2,000 worth of goods are sold on eBay every second – and the vast majority are used, vintage, or refurbished. Our 88 million active users also represent a powerful collective, and we are committed to using our voice and reach to help consumers make smarter, greener choices through the eBay Green Team.

Being the world’s leading e-commerce company presents unique climate change challenges for our business. Our largest direct impact is in the energy we use to power our data centers, and we are committed to leading the industry in smart energy management. To that end, eBay Inc. has committed to reduce its absolute GHG emissions by 15% by 2012 over a 2008 baseline.

To meet that challenge, we are implementing a comprehensive data center management strategy that includes a full migration of data center operations into state of the art eBay-owned facilities. Our new data center under construction in Salt Lake City is being built to LEED Gold standards – one of only 3 in the country – and will be a showcase for the latest innovations in electrical, mechanical, and cooling technology.

Through our commitment to energy conservation efforts, green buildings, and renewable energy, and an investment in high-quality carbon offset projects, eBay has been a carbon neutral company since 2007. Our newest building was designed and built to LEED Gold standards for new construction, and features energy- and water- conserving systems throughout. eBay is also proud home to San Jose, California’s largest commercial solar array, with 3,248 panels covering more than 60,000 square feet of roof space.

Visit us at http://pages.ebay.com/aboutebay/environment.html to learn more about eBay’s environmental initiatives.

Eileen Fisher

EILEEN FISHER is a women’s clothing company with 800 employees, 50 retail stores and our clothing line available in most high-end department stores. Our company is not large but our supply chain extends from the United States to China, India, Portugal, Peru and other countries around the world. For us, climate change affects every stage of the design and manufacturing process, and we are just beginning to understand the depth of this impact.

Even though we don’t have all the answers, we know the cost of not acting has a higher cost than acting.  We know that Earth’s changing climate affects our customers and our suppliers, most specifically those that tend and grow the high-quality natural fibers at the core of our business. And we know that creating strong climate policy is a key component to reducing the risks of climate change.

EILEEN FISHER is currently managing emissions by: considering each step of the life cycle, from material selection to production process to garment care and reusability; by supporting energy conservation programs in our buildings; and by reducing carbon emission linked to transportation of our products.  As a company we are in the early stages of this journey, learning how to shift our practices and how to increase our organic/eco materials beyond 20 percent of products sold.

Gap Inc.

We believe we should go beyond the basics of ethical business practices and embrace our responsibility to people and the planet. We believe this brings a sustained, collective value to our shareholders, our employees, our customers and society.

At Gap Inc., we’re committed to operating our business in a way that is mindful of long-term environmental sustainability. Our comprehensive environmental strategy focuses efforts on three key areas where we believe we can have the greatest positive impact: Energy conservation, Cotton/sustainable design, and Output/waste reduction (ECO). For example:

Energy conservation
Gap Inc. committed to reducing store energy consumption by 11 percent between 2003 and 2008 as part of the company’s participation in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders program. As of 2007, we have reduced energy consumption by more than 12 percent, and will announce our results over the full five-year period later this year. 

Cotton/sustainable design
Each of our brands continues to include more sustainable fiber choices across their collections, including, for example, the use of soy, bamboo, organic cotton and organic linen. In fact, this year, Banana Republic launched their second sustainable clothing line – part of the new Heritage Collection – which includes products made from these more sustainable fibers. GapKids also recently launched an organic collection of clothing for girls and boys.

Output/waste reduction
Gap Inc. increased its paper and cardboard recycling in North American stores, distribution centers and headquarters from 26,000 tons in 2003 to 49,540 tons in 2006, an increase of more than 90 percent.

To learn more about Gap Inc.’s commitment to social responsibility and sustainable programs, visit www.gapinc.com/socialresponsibility.

Gap Inc. is a leading global specialty retailer offering clothing, accessories and personal care products for men, women, children and babies under the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta brand names. Fiscal 2008 sales were $14.5 billion. Gap Inc. operates more than 3,100 stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan and Ireland. In addition, Gap Inc. is expanding its international presence with franchise agreements in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. 

Levi Strauss & Co.

At Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&CO.), recognizes that the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major contributor to global climate change, and is committed to reducing emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases from its operations globally. Ultimately, its goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by reducing the amount of energy it uses and moving to 100 percent renewable energy to meet its remaining needs.

To get there, LS&CO. is focusing on its own operations.  It will then expand its efforts into its supplier base.  For a global company, addressing climate change is no small task.  It requires a long-term strategy that will allow the company to develop and implement reduction strategies at the same time that it is are meeting the demands of the marketplace. 

It also requires effective U.S. Government leadership and an appropriate federal regulatory environment that promotes energy efficiency, encourages energy and climate innovation, and reduces overall greenhouse gas emissions. It is through LS&CO.’s participation in Business for Innovation in Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP) that the company will call for this leadership and support the administration and U.S. Congress to develop energy and climate legislation.

To read more about Levi Strauss & Co.'s commitment to corporate responsibility, visit http://www.levistrauss.com/Citizenship.

Nike

Nike is an innovation company, designing and planning for the sustainable economy of tomorrow, not just today. Climate change, and reducing Nike’s environmental footprint, is something the company has been focused on for well over a decade, in conjunction with broader sustainability work.

In 1997 Nike committed to fully phasing out SF6, a global warming gas used in Air-Sole cushioning units and by 2006 the phase out had been completed in all Nike-branded footwear. In 2001 Nike joined the World Wildlife Fund’s Climate Savers program. By setting strong targets greenhouse gas emissions from owned operations and business travel were reduced by 18 percent from 1998 to 2005, despite an increase in the square footage of Nike’s operations.

The majority of Nike’s climate change impact derives from the operations of the more than 700 contract factories producing Nike-branded product. Footwear manufacturing accounts for approximately 60 percent of Nike’s CO2 footprint and apparel and equipment combined represent about 8 percent.

Hence, Nike is working collaboratively with footwear contract factories to help improve their energy efficiency and assist with embedding green building principles into the design and construction of new factories. Through these steps, and others, Nike hopes to reduce CO2 emissions and control costs. With the same intent the company has also initiated an industry-wide energy efficiency project with the World Federation of Sporting Goods Industry for apparel and equipment contract manufacturers.

Given that the transport operations which move Nike product from the point of manufacturing to the distribution centers account for about 25 percent of Nike’s CO2 emissions, the company has set a target to reduce the inbound logistics footprint by 30 percent from a 2003 baseline by 2020.

In addition to measuring the company’s entire CO2 footprint, Nike also measures its product footprint. It is estimated that for an average pair of Nike shoes the embedded carbon in the product’s materials is about 2.5 times the carbon emitted by the footwear factories. This embedded carbon (energy) legacy is very complex and resides outside of Nike’s direct control, but indicates the importance of understanding the carbon footprint when selecting materials during the design process. 

Nike recognizes it must continue to invest in innovative solutions to reduce the impact of climate change and energy dependence but it also understands that this work cannot be done alone. Solutions must be found by sharing knowledge, mobilizing resources, harnessing new technologies, lobbying governments and encouraging consumers to participate in the race against climate change.

For more information about Nike's commitment to social and environmental responsibility, visit www.nikebiz.com/responsibility.

The North Face 

The North Face is the global leader in outdoor gear and apparel that enables and inspires athletes and enthusiasts to get outdoors and Never Stop Exploring. Our customers and athletes are passionate, each emotionally and physically tied to our environments. Yet, unfortunately, during their expeditions they are seeing more and more recessed glaciers, droughts, and closed ski resorts. In short, Climate Change is hitting home.

The North Face is dedicated to reducing the impacts of Climate Change and working towards positive solutions that will increase our energy independence and create new green jobs and predictability in our weather patterns.

We believe in strong legislation at the local, state, national and global level. Each of us must also take responsibility for our actions and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.  Therefore, The North Face has a four-part strategy to reduce which includes:   

Measure.  We are working tirelessly to understand the carbon footprint so we know what we are doing.

Reduce.  We believe the first fight in climate change is too just simply reduce our entire energy footprint, creating more efficient processes and integrating new, more efficient and renewable technologies. We installed a 1 MW solar panel system at our Distribution Center in California and conducted lighting retrofits in all of our North American facilities.

Invest. We invest in Green-e certified renewable wind energy credits to offset the energy we cannot reduce in our North American operations. We believe the only way to a cleaner footprint is through bringing new renewable energy sources online.

Offset.  We still need to travel to run a global business and our employees still need to get to work, so we offset this with tree plantings around the United States. These occur in much needed restoration areas.

We understand these efforts will not stop climate change in its tracks, but it is a start. And as part of our journey towards Sustainability, we are continuing to dig deeper into our product supply chain to reduce our carbon footprint.

By joining BICEP, we are calling upon all of our stakeholders to contact their legislators and express their thoughts and concerns about climate change. Through our actions, we are determined to inspire the worldwide public to do their part in making our planet healthier and the environment safer for all.

Seventh Generation

Seventh Generation is committed to being the most trusted brand of household and personal-care products for your living home. Our products are healthy and safe for the air, the surfaces, the fabrics, the pets, and the people within your home -- and for the community and environment outside of it.

Our name, Seventh Generation is derived from the Great Law of the Iroquois Nation that states, "In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." The essence of this credo is something we try to infuse across all aspects of our business, and could not be more relevant to the way our company, community, country, and planet should be thinking about the issue of climate change.  It is future generations that will pay the price in unimaginable ways for our lack of courage and vision in meeting this challenge. 

We are taking action to reduce our company’s carbon footprint by setting a companywide reduction target, and we are working with our community of employees to increase the efficiency of their homes and cars.  But we also know that ours is a small piece of the global problem, and that if we are to truly solve it, citizens and business alike need to join the call for strong science based federal action on climate change. That’s why we are so pleased to have joined the visionary companies of BICEP.  We see advocacy of science based solutions to climate change as a natural extension of the work we are doing within the company and throughout our supply chain to reduce the climate impacts of our business.

Some of Seventh Generation’s Climate Change Initiatives:

• An 80% reduction by 2050, achieved through a 2% reduction per year in emissions.
• Incentives for employees to invest in energy efficiency at home.
• Incentives to move employees to more fuel efficient vehicles, including hybrids.
• Working throughout our supply chain to reduce the impact of our products, from sourcing, manufacturing and distribution to packaging and R&D.
• Taking a leadership role on the issue of sustainable palm oil production (palm kernel oil is a key raw material in our plant based surfactant system) and its impacts on climate change.
• Strongly supporting the work of BICEP.
  

We believe that a planet at risk puts our business at risk, and that the purpose of business should not separate from the project of humanity. 

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. 

As a company that serves millions of customers every day, Starbucks feels a responsibility to positively impact the communities in which we do business. Too often, fears of economic impacts and opposition from the business community are cited as reasons to not pursue a comprehensive climate policy. We’ve joined this effort to change that misperception. The way we see it, addressing climate change will help companies like ours reduce operating costs and mitigate future economic instability due to extreme weather conditions, agricultural loss and the very real human costs they bring.

We recently set new targets around environmental stewardship as part of Starbucks™ Shared Planet™, the way we work with our customers, communities, partners and farmers to create a better future for all. It is our goal that by 2015, 100 percent of our cups will be reusable or recyclable and we will significantly reduce our environmental footprint through energy and water conservation, recycling, and green construction.

Many of our existing programs, as well as ones under development, are helping us reach these goals. Starbucks already purchases renewable energy that represents 20 percent of our U.S. and Canada stores demand, and our new goal more than doubles this commitment. We’ve also played an active role in the U.S. Green Building Council LEED for Retail Program – a pilot program that is working to shape standards for the retail sector. Finally, we recently expanded a 10-year relationship with Conservation International to further tackle climate change by looking beyond coffee farms and into surrounding forests – areas critical to reversing climate change.  

Participating in the BICEP coalition is one way we’re working to deliver on these Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ commitments to doing business responsibly. Some may call this responsible capitalism, we think it’s just good business.

To read more about Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ commitments, visit www.starbucks.com/sharedplanet.

Stonyfield Farm

Stonyfield Farm is the world's leading organic yogurt company. Its all-natural and certified organic yogurt, smoothies, milk, cultured soy, frozen yogurt and ice cream are distributed throughout the U.S. The company advocates that healthy food and healthy people can only come from a healthy planet. Its purchases of organic ingredients keep over 100,000 acres of farmland free of toxic, persistent pesticides and chemical fertilizers that can contaminate soil, rivers and drinking water.

Stonyfield rejects the notion that aggressive climate action is going to be costly.  In fact, our experience shows otherwise.  Stonyfield was among the first corporations to calculate its carbon footprint – not just at our plant but upstream to the organic dairy farms that produce our milk, and downstream to our customers. We started with simple steps, applied imagination and elbow grease, and got a lot of help.  

By paying attention to efficiency and emissions, engaging employee imagination, and implementing innovation, we have saved money, improved our manufacturing, streamlined our distribution, and helped increase public awareness of this critical environmental issue.  Each step we’ve taken has generated additional ideas, and our list of opportunities has grown rather than shrank. Today, our Greener Cow project is even finding ways to reduce emissions from cow burps:  it turns out that a less expensive and more natural diet can improve cows’ lives, their milk, our yogurt, and our customers’ health.  Based on our experience, climate action offers economic opportunity rather than economic penalty.  With global warming now approaching dangerous levels, we want Congress to move expeditiously to control greenhouse gas emissions, and we recommend that it look less at economic models and more at economic reality – what the actual, on-the-ground experience of pro-active entities like the BICEP companies shows.”

To help reduce its own contribution to global warming, Stonyfield has offset all of the CO2 emissions generated from its facility energy use for well over a decade and has made several investments in renewable energy.  The company also started a nonprofit called Climate Counts (www.climatecounts.org) which scores the world's largest companies on their climate impact and shows people how they can help fight climate change through the way they shop and invest. Regularly recognized as one of America’s greenest companies, Stonyfield donates 10% of its profits to efforts that help protect and restore the Earth.

For more information about Stonyfield Farm, its products and initiatives, visit www.stonyfield.com.

Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems is a global technology provider dedicated to innovating IT products and services.  While information technology holds great potential to reduce society's overall environmental impact, its use can also have direct, negative consequences. 

Sun invests heavily in innovation to develop products that meet customers' business needs without sacrificing the wellbeing of the planet.  Sun considers sustainability at every stage of the product lifecycle – from design through end of life.  The technology company recognizes that its greatest sustainability opportunity is to limit the energy required to use its products.  This is driving Sun's engineers to improve the energy efficiency of Sun products, while at the same time meeting the increasing feature demands of its customers. 

• Sun strives to design products that are smaller, provide more computing power while using less energy and fewer materials, and are easy to disassemble at the end of their useful life.
• Sun complies with all regulations related to chemicals in its products and aim to reduce or eliminate the use of potentially hazardous substances.
• Sun works closely with its manufacturing partners to establish environmental standards and management systems in the factories where its products are made. 
• Sun has established a global take-back program, the goal of which is to remanufacture, reuse and/or recycle at least 95% of what customers return to the company.
• Sun participates in multiple industry consortia and standards bodies, and works closely with governments and other authorities, to establish standards that govern the energy efficiency of its products as well as their environmental impact during manufacture, use, and disposal.

In its own operations, Sun seeks to reduce its overall environmental impact.

• Sun reduced US greenhouse gas emissions 23% between 2002 and 2007, and have further committed to reducing global Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 20% between 2007 and 2015. 
• During FY08, Sun's Open Work initiative avoided the release of roughly 52,000 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
• Sun has publicly committed to reducing its overall water consumption and waste-to-landfill ratios. 

Finally, Sun has directly experienced the transformational power of communities, and openly shares its know-how and tools with others on the hopes that collectively we can address our climate risks and challenges.

For more about Sun Microsystems and its commitment to sustainability and the environment, read Sun's 2008 Corporate Sustainability Report.

Symantec

Symantec helps consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world. The environmental costs of doing business have never been more evident, and Symantec is committed to minimizing its environmental footprint by conserving the natural resources on which we all depend. We challenge ourselves to stay on the forefront of developing innovative solutions to increase efficiency, conserve energy, reduce materials use and lessen overall environmental impact.

There are four key components that feature in Symantec’s environmental strategy:

Green IT and the Green Data Center
Symantec has established practices to minimize energy use and optimize performance in our clients’ and our own data centers and beyond. Symantec solutions and services improve utilization of existing IT assets, facilitate server virtualization and storage consolidation and aggressively manage endpoints and monitor energy consumption, among others, to help reduce hardware and energy needs.

 

Resource Conservation
Symantec’s goal is to reduce CO2 emissions by fifteen percent by the end of FY12 through the implementation of Green IT and the deployment of other conservation and efficiency solutions. Globally, Symantec has adopted the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED EB program and is applying the minimum certification level at each of our existing owned buildings. Future owned buildings will be constructed to meet the requirements of the LEED NC standard.

Symantec joined the Sustainable Silicon Valley’s Carbon Dioxide Emissions Reduction Initiative and have pledged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by ten percent at our headquarters facilities by 2010. Symantec also participates in the Carbon Disclosure Project, the leading global initiative to collect self-reported greenhouse gas emissions information from more than 3,000 of the world’s largest companies.

 

Responsible Packaging
We integrate the concept of reduce/reuse/recycle into packaging design and manufacture, and deliver the majority of our software products electronically in order to conserve materials and energy.

 

Transportation
Symantec supports telecommuting and leverages video conferencing to reduce employee commuting and business travel -- thereby lowering our greenhouse gas emissions.

Timberland

Global warming poses an alarming threat given the magnitude and reach of its impact. Timberland contributes to the problem by using energy that produces carbon emissions, and it is committed to being a part of the solution. 

Timberland’s goal is to become “carbon neutral”– meaning that the company seeks to fully reduce and offset the effects of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by Timberland owned and operated facilities as well as employee air travel.  Timberland's target is an absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2010 (over 2006 levels).  The company prioritizes making absolute reductions before looking to offsets for those emissions it cannot eliminate.

Timberland's core initiatives that support these reductions include:

• Verifying greenhouse gas emissions inventory with a third party to provide accurate and transparent information to Timberland's stakeholders
• Implementing energy efficiency programs at all of it's facilities, and designing all new Timberland stores to meet LEED certification
• Using renewable energy sources (solar, wind, water) at Timberland facilities, including at its factory in the Dominican Republic, its distribution centers in Enschede, Holland and in Ontario, California, and at all of its facilities in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
• Educating and incentivizing Timberland employees through its online “Earthkeeper Rewards” program to make small, voluntary behavioral changes at work and at home (e.g. walking or carpooling to work, and killing vampire electricity, and line drying clothes) that improves the company's collective carbon footprint.

To learn more about Timberland’s carbon neutral strategy and its efforts to reduce value chain emissions please visit www.timberland.com/ClimateStrategy2009.