The greenhouse effect “is real and intensifying,” according to a stark “executive action report” issued by the Conference Board, a New York–based nonprofit, nonpartisan business organization that does economic research for major corporations and other businesses. Based on a June 2004 conference on climate change, held by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the report notes that while controversy exists about the exact causes of global warming, “there is widespread consensus that climate change is occurring.” The document sums up the views of scientists at the conference by saying that “the trajectory is set” for a warmer planet, and it warns the business community to expect increasing pressure to deal with the issue.
“This was designed to be a backgrounder for our members and business people generally,” said the report’s author, Charles Bennett, a geographer and a senior research associate with the Conference Board. “We wanted to...
