LOUISVILLE —
A Presbyterian Church (USA) affiliate is collaborating with Cincinnati’s
Cinergy Corp. on a report
outlining how the Ohio power company is trying to minimize harm
to the environment.
Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI),
a group that monitors corporations whose stock is owned by denominational
entities, met with Cinergy officials in Cincinnati on Feb 4.
The contemplated report will outline steps Cinergy has taken
in response to mounting regulatory, competitive and public pressures
to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions
from its facilities.
The report will be reviewed by the public-policy committee of
Cinergy’s board of directors and will be included in the
corporation’s 2003 annual report to shareholders and in
its 2003 Environmental, Health and Safety Progress Report.
Plans for the MRTI-Cinergy report were announced during a Feb.
12 meeting here of the National Ministries Division Committee
(NMDC), which gathered in connection with a regular meeting of
the General Assembly Council (GAC).
“We appreciate Cinergy’s willingness to discus and
collaborate on these issues that are of great importance to society
and to investors,” said the Rev. William Somplatsky-Jarman,
the PC(USA) associate for MRTI. “As a result of this dialogue,
we will withdraw a proposed shareholder resolution that we had
requested to be included in the company’s annual meeting
proxy.”
MRTI also assesses companies’ compliance with General Assembly
policies on matters such as environmental protection and safe
labor practices. It combines Assembly-approved standards and shareholder
engagement through proxy voting, dialogues with executives and
shareholder resolutions.
Cinergy’s regulated delivery operations in Ohio, Indiana
and Kentucky serve about 1.5 million electric customers and 500,000
gas customers.
“Cinergy has undertaken several initiatives to establish
its leadership in social and environmental responsibility,”
said James E. Rogers, Cinergy’s chairman, president and
chief executive officer. “Cinergy is currently partnering
with (public interest group) Environmental Defense on a greenhouse
gas emissions-reduction program. We are delighted to join with
Mission Responsibility Through Investment to produce another effective
collaborative process on these crucial public policy matters.” |
