Last week, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker traveled to Denver, Colorado to participate in an armchair discussion, where she highlighted the significant opportunities that clean energy technology and new policies to address climate change offer U.S. businesses.

Secretary Pritzker’s Denver’s visit was part of the “State of the Union: Cabinet in Your Community” road tour, an extension of President Obama’s ongoing conversation with the American people about our nation’s remarkable progress and the Administration’s efforts to continue to move the country forward. The armchair discussion was held at the Commons on Champa, Denver’s public campus for entrepreneurship.

During her armchair discussion, Secretary Pritzker discussed the commercial and environmental impact of the Paris climate agreement, the Obama Administration’s leadership in addressing climate change, and how the Commerce Department helps American businesses compete and succeed in this sector globally.

The Paris Climate Summit is the most meaningful international effort to address climate change in at least 20 years.  The actions individual nations will undertake as a result provide a clear roadmap for investors, pointing to a future in the clean energy sector. At the summit, nearly two-hundred countries in total committed to creating their own “nationally-determined” action plan and to submitting increasingly ambitious plans every five years, which will create long-term demand for clean energy technologies.

Over 150 companies have signed the American Business Act on Climate Pledge in support of an ongoing commitment to climate action and in support of a strong agreement in Paris. Their actions will go a long way in reducing pollution, promote clean energy, and help demonstrate that addressing climate change is good for business.

Across our twelve diverse bureaus and through key initiatives like the Top Markets Reports, Environmental Goods and Services Agreement in the WTO, the Global Cities Team Challenge, the NIST Disaster Resilience Framework and the Climate Data Initiative, the Department is committed to helping U.S. companies meet the world’s growing demand for climate-friendly technologies.