New Service Delivers Solution to Meet Requirements of CA Climate Change Laws

February 12, 2009

WATSONVILLE, Calif., Feb. 12 / -- California Energy Initiatives (CEI), a leading developer of accurate, timely and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions profiling solutions, today announced the introduction of its service that profiles the distribution of greenhouse gas levels throughout California. CEI's new service is a key resource for the successful implementation of California's landmark climate change legislation for all of California's 58 counties, 18 metropolitan planning organizations, 470 cities, and functional regions related to air quality, water quality and transportation. The Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) calls for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

CEI's patent-pending profiling platform benchmarks current energy use and greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions levels, enabling users to quantify economic impacts, evaluate alternative initiatives and measure ongoing progress. The platform provides comparison of GhG emissions levels to those of 1990, delivers trend analysis, and offers alternative and specific frameworks for setting local targets and strategies for 2020 and 2050.

"Public, political and legislative pressure is building quickly to specifically address how and when California's governments will actively and cost-effectively battle global warming and the impacts of climate change," said Tom Rosewall, CEI founder and CEO. "California needs a faster, more affordable, accurate way of pinpointing GHG emissions. CEI's services enable decision makers to immediately begin the process of understanding exactly what greenhouse gas reductions mean at the local level in actionable terms."

"Policy makers need the ability to make critical decisions today to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially considering the requirements of California's landmark climate change legislation, AB 32 and SB 375," said Virginia Johnson, CEO of Ecology Action, Inc., a leading Northern California provider of environmental and conservation services. "CEI's service is exactly the right solution at the right time because it streamlines the current complicated and daunting process with its accurate, economical and time-saving approach."

CEI's service revolutionizes the greenhouse gas profiling process by:

-- Providing useable data quickly, with comparable levels of overall accuracy, at more affordable prices

-- Eliminating local government staff requirements -- a critical consideration in the midst of the ongoing statewide fiscal crisis

-- Offering greater flexibility, ease-of-adoption and replication potential for local governments and agencies

-- Enabling planners to better forecast future land use implications with respect to SB 375

-- Delivering analyses using a single methodology, with data and timeframes used consistently across regions

-- Pinpointing the current geographic distribution of California's entire 500 million tons of annual GhG emissions, comparing it to 1990 levels, and defining options for achieving 2020 GhG levels consistent with Assembly Bill 32, California's climate change legislation

CEI services include local and statewide base line mapping of greenhouse gases, objective setting, plan development, initiative development and implementation assistance, program validation and compliance, and advocacy support. Target audiences include key decision makers and program implementers within regional, county and city government, state agencies and their regional departments, and the public and private institutions that support them.