Northrop CEO: There's an opportunity for climate analysis

Northrop Grumman Corp. Chief Executive Officer Ronald Sugar said the company could benefit by providing "practical" analysis of climate-change data collected by U.S. and international agencies.

"What if all the raw environmental data could be turned into practical decision-quality knowledge for use by the greater society," Sugar said today at an event organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "We see an opportunity for the company to take our talent and apply it to this problem."

President-elect Barack Obama has said he will open a "new chapter" for the U.S. on climate change by leading global cooperation on the issue. In a Nov. 18 taped speech to U.S. governors he reiterated a campaign promise to spend $15 billion a year to help industry develop clean energy technology and to create a cap-and-trade system to reduce emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Technology developed by the U.S. defense industry to analyze large volumes of battlefield data into useful information for commanders could be adapted for climate data, Sugar said.