Getting ready to 'go green?' Look to California
Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor -- Logistics Management, 10/29/2007
PHILADELPHIA—Shippers wishing to anticipate new state regulatory laws related to the environment should keep their eyes on California, say logistics industry thought leaders.
“It’s where all the newest legislation is coming from,” noted Diane A. Mollenkopf, assistant professor, University of Tennessee, “and it will have an impact on the entire nation in the coming years.”
As one of the more prominent speakers featured at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ Annual Conference last week, the scholar noted that compliance can be costly and complicated.
“But the consequences of not doing so, can be worse,” she said.
According to Mollenkopf, shippers would prefer national standards to be put in place rather than deal with state-by-state laws.
“What’s happening on the West Coast scares shippers,” she said, “but the precedent must be acknowledged and dealt with.”
Environmental sustainability is a journey, she added, and the key thing shippers must remember is that while moving ahead, they “do not cede away control of the chain of custody.”
Late last year, California’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, signed the state’s new global warming program—one of several new initiatives creating layers of compliance bureaucracy for manufacturers.
Mollenkopf and other speakers addressing the CSCMP’s “Green” track, observed that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is but one more example of things to come.
“State and local grass roots organizations have brought global warming to the top of mind for many shippers,” noted Adrian Gonzalez, director-logistics executive council, ARC Advisory Group.
“Since then, every shipper will have to incorporate a team at the highest decision-making level charged with examining proposed laws and regulations,” he said.
He might have added that for many here last week, that means looking West for future trends and indicators.
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