Released: March 31, 2009
Wellesley, MA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rosemary Brutico
Quintessence Communication, rbrutico@quintcomm.com, 781-538-6238
Carbon Footprint: Estimate, Disclose, and Record
“Will Your Company Be Ready for Its Unrecorded Liability?”
March 31, 2009 " Boston, Mass. " Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) expert and speaker Gary W. Patterson, president and CEO of FiscalDoctor®, forewarns that the enforcement of a carbon tax is imminent and it won’t be long before American businesses will be held accountable for measuring their carbon footprint. Simply defined, a “carbon tax is an environmental tax on emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.”
Patterson warns: If you weren’t concerned about your company’s carbon footprint in the past, it’s time you started to focus attention on the impact the carbon tax will have on your company’s operations and bottom line. No company or industry will be exempt from the carbon footprint issue: the Green Movement’s political influence and public popularity is creating a perfect storm by which all companies will be levied a tax measured by their carbon footprint.
The proliferation of information regarding the measurement and recording of carbon footprint is evident by the number of websites springing up: www.cdproject.net is just one example. In addition, institutional investors’ increasing focus on a company’s carbon footprint liability provides more evidence that the carbon tax will soon be a reality. In fact, the website www.GlobalReporting.org shows the format institutional investors request for estimated carbon usage. With that information, analysts and the Chicago Carbon Exchange (www.chicagoclimatex.com) can estimate the impact of the carbon tax and associated cost increases on a company’s bottom line.
Since financial analysts and consultants can estimate a company’s carbon footprint, discussions are under way to require that these estimates be included as a footnote in companies’ financial statements. It’s only logical to conclude that what’s recorded as a footnote estimate today will become a critical component in a company’s balance sheet tomorrow. In other words, it’s only a matter of time before your company’s carbon footprint may be seen as a liability that can impact your company’s equity.
About Gary W. Patterson
Gary W. Patterson, president and CEO of FiscalDoctor®, has been a high-growth consultant for more than 200 companies spanning high tech and service industries. His clients include startups, Inc. 500, and middle market companies worldwide. Patterson has written widely on ERM, corporate governance, risk analysis, and the impact of renewable energy on the world economy. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Stick Out Your Balance Sheet and Cough: Best Practices for Long-Term Business Health. For more information, visit his website at www.fiscaldoctor.com. Patterson also offers a “free” fiscal fitness test at www.fiscaldoctor.com/fiscaltest.html. He can be reached at 781-237-3617.
© 2009 Gary W. Patterson. All rights reserved.
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Gary Patterson
Trusted Advisor
FiscalDoctor Inc.
Wellesley, MA
Phone : 781-237-3637
Courtesy FeaturesUSA.com