December 7, 2009—Ceres announced recently that three new companies—Ben & Jerry’s, Eileen Fisher and Stonyfield Farm—have joined the business coalition Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP), which is calling for strong climate and energy legislation from Congress in 2009.
The new BICEP companies all have long track records of making sustainability a central component of their business models, says sustainability coalition Ceres, which helps coordinate BICEP.
Launched in November 2008, BICEP now includes 16 of the nation’s largest consumer brands, including founding members Nike, Starbucks, Levi Strauss & Co., Sun Microsystems and The Timberland Co. as well as eBay, Gap Inc., Symantec, Clif Bar & Company, Seventh Generation, Aspen Skiing Company, The North Face and Jones Lang LaSalle.
BICEP’s core principles include stimulating production of renewable energy, promoting energy efficiency and clean energy jobs, requiring the auction of all carbon allowances, and limiting new coal-fired power plants to those that capture and store carbon emissions.
The new members were announced as the U.S. Senate considers a comprehensive climate and energy legislation and as world leaders prepare to meet at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December to negotiate a new international agreement on climate change.
