ATTENTION: Environmental, business, political, legal and science writers and editors

WHAT: "Cap and Trade as a Tool for Climate Change Policy," a two-day, University of California, Berkeley, conference with experts from around the world exploring the science, markets, politics, laws and other issues relating to climate change and the development of policies to control greenhouse gases.

Cap and trade, or emissions trading, is a system in which governments set limits on carbon emissions, and then companies or countries that pollute beyond the limits must buy credits from -- "trade" with -- those who pollute less than their allowances.

WHEN: Thursday and Friday, Feb. 22-23, 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. each day

WHERE: Booth Auditorium in UC Berkeley's School of Law (Boalt Hall). Directions are on the Web at https://www.law.berkeley.edu/centers/envirolaw/capandtrade/hotels.html.

WHO: Participants will include UC Berkeley climatologists, ethicists, business and legal experts, and public policy authorities, as well as representatives from India, China, Mexico, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada and elsewhere. A list of speakers and topics is online at https://www.law.berkeley.edu/centers/envirolaw/capandtrade/agenda.html.

DETAILS: Reporters and UC Berkeley students can attend the conference free of charge, but all participants are asked to register online at https://www.law.berkeley.edu/centers/envirolaw/capandtrade/regist.html.

Sponsors of the program include the Global Commons Project of the California Center for Environmental Law and Policy at the School of Law, the Center for Environmental Public Policy at UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley's Berkeley Institute of the Environment, and the American Society of International Law's International Environmental Law Interest Group.