CHESTER, NJ, June 4, 2007 - Conservation Resources Inc. (CRI) announced that over the next several months it will be conducting a research study titled "Determining the Potential Contributions Which Might Be Made to Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Reduction by Land Conservation and Restoration Projects".

With the enactment of the “Global Warming Response Act.” on July 6, 2007, New Jersey became only the third state in the nation to mandate greenhouse gas reduction goals by law.  This new legislation mandates the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 (an estimated 20 percent reduction) to be followed by a mandatory additional reduction of emissions to 80 percent below 2006 levels by 2050.  These reductions had previously been required by Executive Order 54, which was signed by Governor Corzine in February of 2007.

This new law directs the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to develop a 1990 greenhouse gas emission inventory as well as a system for monitoring current greenhouse gas levels, and to develop specific recommendations for meeting the mandatory reductions.

Identifying feasible and cost-effective means of meeting these targeted reductions will obviously be a huge challenge.  Given the fact that both the science and the regulation of global warming is still at an early stage,  the policy decisions which will be made by DEP over the next year or two will have to be based upon the best available information and analysis. As is often the case with landmark legislation, New Jersey will have precious little in the way of experience from other jurisdictions to review and consider as it moves forward aggressively to meet these ambitious goals.  As DEP charts this new regulatory, the agency will have to grapple with a host of issues, including:

• How should existing greenhouse gas emissions best be measured to establish benchmarks for the reductions which will be mandated in the future?

• What is the universe of acceptable practices and projects which will be recognized as creditable for making a measurable contribution to these mandatory emission reductions?

• How will emission reduction be measured?

Accordingly, the time is ripe to consider a number of ways in which the regulated community might be able to achieve significant and creditable reductions in greenhouse gases, and to identify one or more cost effective and feasible ways of achieving these goals.

While pollution prevention, energy conservation and process or fuel source changes will no doubt play a big role in reduction strategies, carbon sequestration projects may also prove to be an effective means of making a significant contribution to mandatory greenhouse gas reductions.  In particular, this feasibility study is designed to analyze how various means of land preservation and/or restoration might be utilized to provide significant and creditable greenhouse gas reductions.

Conservation Resources will be conducting a research study to analyze the potential for a variety of land preservation and /or restoration activities to make measurable and creditable contributions as part of the overall package of activities which will need to be implemented in order to comply with the mandatory new greenhouse gas reductions.

These reductions - and the carbon credits or offsets which might be generated - have the potential to be another significant funding source for conservation projects in New Jersey.

This study would be conducted within a 6 month period commencing June, 2008.