That’s the message Michael Gerrard will deliver in his talk, titled “Climate Change and Energy Policy,” at the Sept. 2-4 West Virginia Business Summit at The Greenbrier. A Charleston native, Gerrard practiced environmental law from 1979 through 2008, becoming managing partner of the New York office of Arnold & Porter LLP before joining the faculty at the Columbia University Law School.

Gerrard has written or edited seven books, including “Global Climate Change and U.S. Law,” and twice received the Association of American Publishers’ Best Law Book award for works on environmental law and brownfields.

He now directs Columbia’s Center for Climate Change Law. The Center develops new legal techniques to fight climate change and, more broadly, trains the next generation of leaders in the area of environmental law and climate change.

“We’re past the point of asking whether carbon will be constrained,” Gerrard said. “We’re now addressing the issue of how.”

It may be done by Congress, he said. That process was partially completed when the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act cap and trade bill in June; Senate leaders hope to complete the process this fall.

But if that does not come to pass, Gerrard said, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will exercise the regulatory authority that the Supreme Court declared it has under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. In either case, “West Virginia business will be significantly affected,” he said.

“However, with or without legislation there are various ways to ease the pain.”

At the Business Summit, Gerrard will walk through measures built in the House bill that will provide relief for businesses affected by the legislation.

“Under the cap and trade system, entities that emit greenhouse gases need to purchase allowances — but it appears that many of the initial allowance will be given away for free rather than having to be purchased,” Gerrard explained. “Many of them will almost certainly assist coal users in the utility and manufacturing sectors.”

Other mitigating measures under consideration include retraining for displaced workers, he said, and the development of alternative energy resources in areas that are adversely affected by the new regulations.

Gerrard also will talk about ways that the Senate is likely to modify the House bill as it works to pass a bill into law before international climate talks scheduled to take place in Copenhagen in December.

“I hope we can all discuss how to take advantage of the economic opportunities afforded by climate change regulation and not only look at the downside,” he said.

Gerrard will appear on a panel with U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va, as part of an Energy and Environment Symposium.