IP Concerns, Climate Change, Share Stage At House Hearing
House Global Warming Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) and ranking member James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who seldom agree on issues before their committee, will largely read from the same playbook at a hearing today intended to reinforce the importance of American intellectual property in conjunction with international climate change talks. Mark Esper, Executive Vice President of the Chamber’s Global IP Center, hopes the Capitol Hill interest will spur action from U.S. negotiators at a mid-August climate change meeting in Bonn, Germany. “If we want to address climate change, create jobs and transform the economy, we have to protect IP rights,” he said.
The hearing comes as nations prepare for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December where negotiators will try to reach agreement on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Lawmakers and the business community are working to make their views known to the Obama administration, and Sensenbrenner and Markey raised the issue during a trip to China with House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) in May.
