This document summarizes an International Climate Change Partnership (ICCP) meeting held on March 20, 2003. It was prepared by the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers (AIAM), a member organization of the ICCP, and circulated to its Environment and Energy Subcommittee. It was submitted during discovery in Green Mtn. Chrysler Plymouth Dodge Jeep v. Crombie and Central Valley Chrysler-Jeep, Inc. v. Witherspoon.

Attached to this summary are the meeting’s handouts, including minutes from a prior ICCP board meeting as well as memos from ICCP Executive Director Kevin Fay, summarizing climate policy updates. ICCP’s membership was principally composed of automobile and chemical industry representatives. In contrast to groups like the Global Climate Coalition, the ICCP supported voluntary emission reductions and acknowledged scientific consensus on climate change.

I. Cover Letter and AIAM Summary of March 20th Meeting

In this meeting, Fay reported on a number of state, federal, and international developments in climate change policy including the Bush Administration’s elimination of some climate-change related programs, introduction of a voluntary program for industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the latest news in the Kyoto protocol negotiations.

II. Minutes of ICCP Board Meeting January 15, 2003

This meeting was held at the offices of Alcalde & Fay, a lobbying firm based in Arlington, VA. Industries with representatives present at the meeting included CH2M Hill, United Technologies, Honeywell, AIAM, Intel, DuPont, Dow, GM, Alliance, Atofina, and Natsource. The minutes noted that Whirlpool and JICOP withdrew their 2003 membership.

III. Industry Allies in Federal Government

The “Status of Climate Change and Air Pollution Legislation” memo was composed “to summarize the current status of climate change and air pollution legislation in Congress.” In reference to The Global Climate Security Act of 2003, the memo notes that “[b]ecause Senator Inhofe, the current Chairman of the Committee, has been a staunch ally of industry groups, this bill will face an uphill battle in the Committee.”

The FY2004 President’s Budget memo detailed the President’s budget released in 2003 for the fiscal year of 2004. The authors noted, “some climate change-related programs were eliminated or transferred into different accounts. Some people believe that the Administration intentionally restructured these categories to prevent comparisons between the Bush Administration’s climate change budget and the Clinton Administration’s climate change budget” (emphasis added).

Other regulatory highlights of the meeting included:

• A 7% funding reduction in the Department of Energy’s “Energy Conservation” program and a 5% increase in its “Energy Supply/Renewable Energy Resources” program;
• An increase of $13.4 million provided to the Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI), with a description of how those funds would be allocated.

The “FY2003 Climate Change Funding” memo gave “an update regarding climate change funding in the recently passed FY2003 Omnibus Appropriations bill.” In addition to a similar chart in the preceding memo, this report included a note on relevant developments for “programs that conserve and promote efficient energy production in developing countries,” as well as requirements for federal reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.