Enviro CEOs Pressure Bush for Climate Laws

Enviro CEOs Pressure Bush for Climate Laws





    
 
January 2007  - The heads of 10 
corporate giants and four environmental organizations today 
announced a new alliance to lobby the U.S. government for 
strong national legislation to achieve significant reductions 
of greenhouse gas emissions. 
At congressional and national press briefings today, CEOs and 
environmentalists introduced the U.S. Climate Action 
Partnership, USCAP. They sent what they intend to be a clear 
signal to lawmakers that legislative action is urgently 
needed, including a mandatory cap on carbon dioxide emissions 
and a market in carbon credits. 
President George W. Bush has resisted legislating limits on 
emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases 
responsible for climate change, instead favoring a voluntary 
approach. 
Alcoa Chairman and CEO Alain Belda (Photo courtesy Alcoa) 
“Each year that we delay action to control emissions increases 
the risk of unavoidable consequences that could necessitate 
even steeper reductions in the future, at potentially greater 
economic cost and social disruption,” said Alcoa Chairman and 
CEO Alain Belda, introducing USCAP today. 
The Partnership consists of Alcoa, BP America, Caterpillar, 
Duke Energy, DuPont, FPL Group, General Electric, Lehman 
Brothers, Pacific Gas & Electric, and PNM Resources along with 
nongovernmental organizations Environmental Defense, Pew 
Center on Global Climate Change, Natural Resources Defense 
Council, and World Resources Institute, WRI. 
World Resources Institute President Jonathan Lash (Photo 
courtesy WRI) 
"This coalition of corporate and environmental leaders is 
unprecedented in my long experience fighting for a healthier 
environment," said Jonathan Lash, WRI president. "Its message 
to our government should not be misread: we are united in our 
desire for swift, aggressive action on climate change." 
Greenhouse gas emissions produced by burning coal, oil and gas 
are blanketing the planet, trapping the heat of the Sun, 
melting ice caps, rasing sea levels, and causing erratic 
weather patterns. 
Climate change will affect the basic elements of life for 
people around the world. Hundreds of millions of people could 
suffer hunger, water shortages and coastal flooding as the 
world warms. In addition, climate change could have serious 
impacts on growth and development. 
USCAP called today for mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas 
emissions from major emitting sectors, including large 
stationary sources and transportation, and energy use in 
commercial and residential buildings. 
"This is a game changer for action on global warming," said 
Environmental Defense President Fred Krupp, one of those who 
originated the corporate-environmental group discussions. 
Environmental Defense President Fred Krupp (Photo courtesy 
Environmental Defense) 
"These negotiations weren’t easy – we all had strong points of 
view on the specifics – yet there was a real sense that we 
were doing something that could be historic," Krupp said. 
The group proposed a cap and trade system to cut greenhouse 
gas emissions. It recommends a 10 to 30 percent reduction in 
greenhouse gas emissions within 15 years with a goal of a 60 
to 80 percent reduction by 2050. 
"We chose a cap and trade approach because it guarantees the 
emissions cuts we need, while it unleashes cash and creativity 
from the private sector," Krupp said. "This plan is a jobs 
winner as well as an environmental winner." 
The alliance said a cap and trade approach will ensure 
emission reduction targets are met while generating a price 
signal that will provide market incentives to stimulate 
investment and innovation in the technologies necessary to 
achieve its environmental goals. 
Lewis Hay, III is chairman, president and chief executive 
officer, FPL Group, Inc. (Photo courtesy FPL) 
“As the world leader in renewable energy and the nation's 
leading utility in energy conservation programs, FPL Group is 
proud to be among other industry leaders and stakeholders who 
are part of this positive collaboration to support the 
formulation of mandatory policies to reduce CO2 emissions for 
our country,” said Lew Hay, chairman and chief executive 
officer of FPL Group. 
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said today that the 
President's take on carbon caps has not changed as a result of 
hearing USCAP's proposal. 
"The President has always believed, when it comes to climate 
change, that the best way to achieve reductions is through 
innovation and to figure out ways to come up with energy 
sources that are going to meet our economy's constant demand 
for energy, and at the same time, do it in a way that's going 
to be friendly for the environment," Snow said at a press 
briefing. 
The President is expected to address climate change during his 
State of the Union message tomorrow evening. 
The coal-fired Paradise power plant in Kentucky is operated by 
the Tennessee Valley Authority, a U.S. government agency. 
(Photo courtesy TVA) 
In February 2002, President Bush announced a strategy to 
reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of the American economy by 
18 percent over the 10 year period from 2002 to 2012. Instead 
of a percentage measurement of emissions in the atmosphere, 
greenhouse gas intensity measures the ratio of emissions to 
economic output. 
A survey taken in November by Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology political scientist Stephen Ansolabehere showed 
that Americans now rank climate change as the country’s most 
pressing environmental concern. Three years ago, climate 
change ranked only sixth out of 10 environmental problems. 
USCAP’s recommendations are based on six principles:
  Account for the global dimensions of climate change 
  Recognize the importance of technology 
  Be environmentally effective 
  Create economic opportunity and advantage 
  Be fair to sectors disproportionately impacted 
  Recognize and encourage early action
The principles and the recommendations outlined in the USCAP 
Call for Action are the result of a year-long collaboration 
motivated by the shared goal of slowing, stopping and 
reversing the growth of greenhouse gas emissions over the 
shortest period of time reasonably achievable. 
A full copy of the A Call for Action and background 
information on the U.S. Climate Action Partnership is online 
at: www.us-cap.org.