Louisville, KY — The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), through its Mission Responsibility Through Investment committee (MRTI), has been instrumental in a report issued yesterday by FirstEnergy Corp., and acknowledges the success of the report as a positive step toward full disclosure and accountability from the Akron, Ohio-based energy company with respect to emissions and climate change.

Download the report (2.4MB)

FirstEnergy has stated that the "Air Issues Report was compiled at the request of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ... and recognized that the debate surrounding issues such as global climate change may lead to new requirements in the years ahead."

MRTI is responsible for engaging corporations with respect to the social witness policies of the General Assembly of the PC(USA). MRTI, whenever possible, works ecumenically. The process, which resulted in yesterday's report, was started in December 2004, when MRTI and the Marianists informed FirstEnergy that a shareholder resolution was being filed requesting such a report.

After initial discussions with the committee, lead by the Rev. William Somplatsky-Jarman, the company agreed to produce the report and the resolution was withdrawn. PC(USA), FirstEnergy, and Ceres (formerly theCoalition for Environmentally Responsible Economics) have worked cooperatively for the past year in an effort to produce yesterday's report.

"The commitment of FirstEnergy to full environmental disclosure and reporting provides valuable information and assures stockholders, customers and stakeholders that the company is addressing climate change in a serious way," stated Somplatsky-Jarman.

The PC(USA) and its MRTI committee has worked for many years with a variety of power companies, such as Cinergy and Wisconsin Energy, for responsible reporting on emissions and climate change.

The Mission Responsibility Through Investment committee is charged with promoting the mission goals of the General Assembly: pursuit of peace; social and economic justice; racial justice; securing the rights of women and environmental responsibility.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has 2.3 million members from the fifty states and Puerto Rico.