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Session 18: Green Initiatives: Short and Long-Term Profitability Issues
Wal-Mart, Target, and other large retailers as well as large manufacturing companies are initiating programs to reduce the carbon footprint of their products and/or reduce harmful substances used in their manufacture. Is this a differentiation strategy or a means to optimize and improve manufacturing cost competitiveness? What are the implications for manufacturers?
Presentations
Speakers
Kathryn Kobe
Economic Consulting Services LLC
K athryn Kobe is the Director of Price, Wage, and Productivity Analysis with Economic Consulting Services. Prior to joining ECS she was Chief Economist and Executive Vice President of Joel Popkin and Company where she worked since February 1981. Her research responsibilities include macroeconomic and industry forecasting; constructing price and wage indexes from individual company's data, proprietary survey data and from government data; studying wages, benefits, price and cost issues and forecasting their trends; and constructing cost impact models of industries or companies. She has served as an expert witness, presents research results in reports and briefings, and provides input to regulatory and policy reviews. She is the co-author of the recent study for the Council of Manufacturing Associations entitled "Securing America's Future: The Case for a Strong Manufacturing Base" and recently testified before the Senate Finance Committee on the state of manufacturing in the U.S. She also represents the Company in providing television and other interviews on various aspects of the economic outlook. JPC's clients include industrial and financial corporations, the U.S. and other national governments and international organizations.
Ms. Kobe is a member and former Chairperson of the Board of the National Economists Club, and belongs to National Association for Business Economics, the Society of Government Economists, the Washington Association of Money Managers and the Industrial Relations Research Association.
Before coming to Joel Popkin and Company, Ms. Kobe worked at Evans Economics, a private econometric and forecasting firm. At Evans, she was responsible for developing the livestock and dairy sectors of the Evans agricultural model. Prior to joining Evans Economics, Ms. Kobe was an economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Her duties there include researching and building a sector of an agricultural product model and analyzing prospective grain price support policy actions.
Ms. Kobe received her B.A. in economics Summa Cum Laude from the University of Maryland (College Park) and received her M.A. in economics from George Washington University.
Lisa Jacobson
Business Council for Sustainable Energy
Lisa Jacobson serves as the Executive Director for the Business Council for Sustainable Energy – a broad-based industry coalition of energy efficiency, natural gas and renewable energy interests that advocates energy and environmental policies that promote markets for clean, efficient and sustainable energy products and services. The Council’s coalition includes power developers, equipment manufacturers, independent generators, green power marketers, and gas and electric utilities, as well as several of the primary trade associations in these sectors.
Ms. Jacobson has extensive experience on the design of environmental and emissions markets. She is the author of numerous publications focusing on greenhouse gas risk management, emissions trading policy and clean energy market development.
Ms. Jacobson served on the California Climate Action Registry Power Sector and Utility Protocol Advisory Committee and has advised numerous states and federal policymakers on the incorporation of clean energy and energy efficiency into market-based emissions programs. Prior to her position with the Council, Ms. Jacobson was a legislative aide to the U.S. Congress; received a Masters in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science; and a Bachelors degree in Political Science from the University of Vermont.
Ms. Jacobson lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland with her husband Chris Jones and their two young daughters, Alexandra and Katherine Jones.
Andrew Aulisi
World Resources Institute
Andrew Aulisi is the Director of WRI’s Markets & Enterprise Program, which analyzes the intersection between the private sector and the environment.
Andrew guides the program’s work on transforming business practices globally, including green investment, enterprise development in emerging markets, and corporate environmental performance. Prior to this role, Andrew was the Director of U.S. Climate Policy at WRI and developed the Institute's work on climate change strategies in the private sector, including partnerships with dozens of multinational corporations. His experience includes five years in the private sector analyzing environmental risk at both AIG Inc. and Marsh Inc. He also spent three years developing business partnerships and analyzing market-based policies for Environmental Defense, and two years abroad with the United Nations.
Andrew has a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science from the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science & Forestry, and a bachelors degree in Biology from Bucknell University.
Miranda Anderson
Wal-Mart
Ms. Anderson has worked with companies, NGOs, and investors to build climate change policies, develop strategic plans, create public-private alliances, and inform multi-million dollar investment decisions. Miranda has experience with the climate and environmental issues facing corporations, as well as extensive relationships with institutional investors, environmental NGOs, and socially responsible investors. Miranda has traveled to Latin America, Asia, and Africa to advise organizations on environmental and climate strategies, including Nissan, Ford, Allianz, the International Long-Term Ecological Research Network, and many others. She was the lead author of the Ceres-Calvert report, Climate Risk Disclosure of the S&P 500; the Ceres Corporate Toolkit for Managing Climate Risks and Opportunities; and dozens of other analyses of corporate climate change activities. Ms. Anderson wrote the Guide to Using the Global Framework for Climate Risk Disclosure and brings to bear extensive knowledge of how corporations should communicate their climate change strategies to stakeholders. Previously, Miranda served as Director of Operations for two non-profits, Environment2004 and the Solar Electric Light Fund. At E’04, she was in charge of FEC and IRS compliance, finance, and administration, and also assisted with fundraising and overall program development. In the private sector, Ms.Anderson has experience in staffing, training, marketing, finance, and policy, with particular emphasis on community and employee relations. Miranda graduated Magna Cum Laude with her BS in Psychology from Colorado State University, and earned an MBA with honors from George Washington University, specializing in Environmental Management and Policy. Her MBA capstone research on corporate water policies won the Center for Corporate Citizenship's award for “Best MBA Paper in Corporate Citizenship”. She is a frequent guest lecturer on corporate sustainability GWU’s School of Business.
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