Champions of Yes Conference to Discuss Region's Maritime Industry Expansion and Environmental Goals

Bay Planning Coalition's Conference Will Attract Bay Area Industry, Government and Organization Leaders

SAN FRANCISCO, April 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Bay Planning Coalition, the non-profit association dedicated to ensuring that commerce, recreation and the natural environment thrive in the San Francisco Bay-Delta region, celebrates its 25th anniversary with today's Annual San Francisco Bay Decisionmakers Conference -- Champions of Yes: 1983-2008 and Beyond. The conference will be held at the Marriott Oakland City Center, and will feature a full day of dialogue including speakers from the California Air Resources Board, US Department of Transportation, US Environmental Protection Agency, as well as economists, financial and maritime industry experts and local government and labor leaders. The conference celebrates Bay Planning Coalition's 25 years of leadership.

In addition to launching a new discussion on a vision for the San Francisco Bay-Delta, the conference is a call to action to protect vital Bay-Delta resources, including expansion of the maritime and goods movement industries and air quality improvements.

For 25 years, the Bay Planning Coalition has played a unique and valuable role in developing innovative policies for the use of San Francisco Bay and the Delta that make good business and environmental sense, says, Speaker Nancy Pelosi. As we face the challenge of climate change at the local and global level, BPC's ability to build successful collaborations will be more important than ever. Congratulations on your Silver Anniversary.

Conference sessions focus on key issues such as the maritime industry expansion and air quality improvements. The conference has several sessions addressing this topic of interest -- Sustaining Local Industry: A Legacy for Quality of Life will launch a discussion on what it takes to sustain the unique economic engine of the Bay-Delta's waterways and contiguous shoreline to support the region's economic and environmental well-being, Public Private Partnerships (PPP) for a Thriving Marine Infrastructure will explore the varying types of PPP relationships needed to achieve operational efficiency in today's competitive market; Luncheon Keynote Address by Sean Connaughton, Administrator, The Maritime Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation: A Vision for the 21st Century will lay out the Maritime Administration's plan for promoting these waterways and their ability to thrive; the afternoon panel discussion Air Quality -- Emissions and Global Warming: A New Frontier will provide an overview of the topic of air quality related to particulate emissions and CO2 greenhouse gas emissions and suggest approaches for problem definition, measurement, planning, and action. For more information on the conference, please call the Bay Planning Coalition at 415/397.2293 or visit the BPC web site at http://www.bayplanningcoalition.org.

The Bay Planning Coalition, founded in 1983, is a nonprofit, membership-based organization representing 200 maritime industry, shoreline property owners, local governments and Bay users. It advocates the balanced regulation and use of Bay-Delta resources. For more information on the BPC, please visit the Web site, http://www.bayplanningcoalition.org.

Source: Bay Planning Coalition