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Jessica Robertson
jnrobertson@uh.edu
713-743-4348

Carbon Trading Course at Bauer College DebutsBauer College of Business at UH Debuts Innovative Carbon Trading Course Believed to Be the First of Its Kind in the Nation, Class Has Drawn Unprecedented Attention

January 23, 2009 - Houston - As world leaders search for answers to the threat of global warming, carbon trading, a market-based mechanism for helping mitigate carbon dioxide pollution in the atmosphere, is taking center stage.

Students at the University of Houston’s C. T. Bauer College of Business will get a firsthand look at the trading, legal, market design and policy aspects of carbon trading in an innovative course on the topic that began this semester.

The class, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, comes at a time when U.S. energy firms are gearing up for a need for traders, lawyers and business people who will work in evolving fields connected with projected emission reduction regulations.

A joint venture of UH's Global Energy Management Institute (GEMI) and the Center for Environment, Energy and Natural Resources (EENR) Law at the UH Law Center, the “Practice of Carbon Trading” class will feature three senior UH faculty members as well as guest speakers with expertise on climate change and environmental law, emissions and commodity trading.

Through a focus on the evolution of the markets in carbon trading, the graduate-level course will cover the creation of property rights, the design and function of various types of commodity markets and derivatives, market design, and the incentives of market participants.

"The class will feature guest speakers from around the country, and its findings and projects will be communicated with persons in key Congressional committees and the incoming Obama administration who are working on national cap and trade legislation and international climate change negotiations," said Professor Praveen Kumar, executive director of GEMI.

Professor Victor B. Flatt, director of EENR, and Professor Craig Pirrong, director of energy markets for GEMI, will teach alongside Kumar.

The class has drawn unprecedented attention, with energy traders and executives from across the country expressing interest before it was announced that attendance would be limited to 40 UH business and law graduate students.

About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas' premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 36,000 students.

About the Bauer College of Business
The C.T. Bauer College of Business has been in operation for more than 60 years at the University of Houston main campus. Through its five academic departments, the college offers a full-range of undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees in business. The Bauer College is fully accredited by the AACSB International - the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. In August 2000, Houston business leader and philanthropist Charles T. (Ted) Bauer endowed the College of Business with a $40 million gift. In recognition of his generosity, the college was renamed the C.T. Bauer College of Business.