Scripps Director Named to Governor's Climate Action Board of Directors

Charles F. Kennel, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, has been appointed by Governor Gray Davis to the California Climate Action Registry Board of Directors.

The purpose of the Climate Action Registry is to help various entities in the state establish emissions baselines against which any future federal greenhouse gas emission- reduction requirements may be applied. The Climate Action Registry is also responsible for ensuring that sources in the state receive appropriate consideration for verified emissions reductions under any future regulatory regime relating to greenhouse gas emissions. Members do not receive a salary. These positions do not require Senate confirmation.

"The basic idea is to arrive at some understanding of what people are doing now so that we can figure out what to do in the future," said Kennel, director of Scripps since April 1998. "The Climate Action Registry is going to help people around the state establish their carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas-emission baselines now, so that when the time comes for federal and other mandated emission reductions, they understand their baseline. It’s a very delicate matter and it involves the welfare of California’s businesses as well as all the people of the state.

"I am delighted to be working with such distinguished people on climate, a topic that has moved to the center of the public policy agenda today and will figure prominently in our grandchildren’s day. We at Scripps believe that it is essential to connect scientific discovery with decision-making. Governor Davis has the same understanding and for that reason I am pleased to join his Climate Action Registry Board of Directors."

Kennel is joined on the board by Robert A. Malone, who has more than 27 years of experience in the business community and is a regional president of BP; Peter M. Miller, a senior scientist at the National Resources Defense Council, where he has worked for 11 years; and Jan E. Schori, who has worked for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District for 22 years and has been serving as its general manager for seven years.

Kennel, 62, of La Jolla, is the director, dean, vice chancellor, and a professor of Marine Sciences. He was the executive vice chancellor and a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and an associate administrator of NASA, in charge of the Mission to Planet Earth Enterprise. He also is a member of the American Physical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, and a member and fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard College and a Ph.D. from Princeton University.