Gov. Gregoire leaving for Copenhagen for international climate change summit

For Immediate Release: December 10, 2009

Gregoire will showcase Washington state�s leadership in addressing clean energy and climate change; recruiting clean technology companies also on her agenda.

OLYMPIA � Gov. Chris Gregoire departs tomorrow for Copenhagen, Denmark, for the 15th meeting of the �Conference of Parties� of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

�In Copenhagen, I will have the opportunity to showcase Washington as an international leader of the clean energy technology revolution,� Gregoire said. �Washington is home to 400 clean tech companies and we�re ripe to grow that number.�

Gregoire was invited to the summit, along with Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, by The Climate Registry and the Georgetown Climate Center. The organizations are funding the governors� trips and participation in Copenhagen.

Gregoire will be a speaker at some of the many events and workshops, including:

• Monday, Dec. 14: �Building on Copenhagen,� a panel of government and business leaders exploring priorities and challenges beyond Copenhagen. Sponsored by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development.




• Tuesday, Dec. 15: �Beyond Cap-and-Trade: Sub-National Leadership.� Participants are Govs. Gregoire, Doyle and Schwarzenegger, and Canadian Premiers Gordon Campbell (B.C.), Jean Charest (Quebec) and Greg Selinger (Manitoba). They will showcase their state and provincial leadership in paving the way for federal and international actions on climate change.

�Governors and states have a particularly powerful message to share because we have been leading the way in the U.S. on climate change in recent years,� Gregoire said. �We understand what�s at stake and that we cannot afford to fail at the global, national or regional level when it comes to protecting our planet or securing the green jobs of the future.�

Gregoire�s trip to Copenhagen underscores her commitment to securing a leadership position for Washington state in the global race to a clean energy economy and to effectively tackle greenhouse gas emissions at regional and national levels.

�It goes without saying that Washington is a state of innovators, and many of the companies leading the clean technology revolution are based here, including Microsoft, McKinstry, Itron, 3TIER and Boeing,� Gregoire said.

Several Washington companies are participating in the Copenhagen summit, including Microsoft, Weyerhaeuser, and NewEarth Renewable Energy.

�I will be there to support those companies and to look for other global businesses that have an interest in growing in Washington State,� Gregoire said.

The governor returns from the summit on Thursday, Dec. 17.