Mandatory USA Greenhouse Cap doubles membership

Mandatory USA Greenhouse Cap doubles membership



 
May 2007 -   The group of large corporations 
calling on the federal government to immediately enact mandatory national 
legislation to cap and trade greenhouse gas emissions today doubled its 
membership. Major greenhouse gas emitters such as automotive, oil and 
chemical companies are among the new members of the U.S. Climate Change 
Partnership. 
Twelve new companies joined the original members of the partnership, known 
as USCAP, bringing the number of corporate partners to 22. 
These companies are pledging to support national legislation to reduce 
America's emission of greenhouse gases by 60 to 80 percent by 2050. To 
date, the Bush administration has declined to regulate the emission of 
greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, CO2. 

One of the thousands of sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the United 
States 
The new members include American International Group, Alcan, Boston 
Scientific, ConocoPhillips, Deere & Company, The Dow Chemical Company, 
General Motors Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Marsh, PepsiCo, Shell, and 
Siemens. 
They join the original group of corporations that formed USCAP in January 
- Alcoa, BP America, Caterpillar, Duke Energy, DuPont, Florida Power & 
Light, General Electric, Lehman Brothers, Pacific Gas & Electric, and PNM 
Resources. 
In calling for effective climate policy, the companies join the four 
original USCAP nonprofit partners - Environmental Defense, the Pew Center 
on Global Climate Change, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the World 
Resources Institute - along with two new groups, The Nature Conservancy 
and National Wildlife Federation. 
"GM is very pleased to join USCAP to proactively address the concerns 
posed by climate change and applauds its members for recognizing the 
important role that technology can play in achieving an economy-wide 
solution," said Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO of General Motors. 

Rick Wagoner is chairman and CEO of General Motors, the world's largest 
automaker 
"A central element as we see it is energy diversity – being able to offer 
consumers vehicles that can be powered by many different energy sources 
and advanced propulsion systems to help displace petroleum and reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions," Wagoner said. 
With its new members, USCAP companies now have total revenues of $1.7 
trillion, a collective workforce of more than two million people and 
operations in all 50 states. 
They also have a combined market capitalization of more than $1.9 
trillion. Market capitalization, or market cap, is derived from a 
company's current stock price per share times the total number of shares 
outstanding. 
The nongovernmental organizations have more than two million members 
worldwide, and represent America's environmental interests and its 
conservation traditions. 
"Climate change will be the biggest threat by far to our mission of 
protecting nature and to the many investments in lands and waters we have 
made over the past 60 years," said Steve McCormick, president and CEO of 
The Nature Conservancy. 

Steve McCormick, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy (Photo 
courtesy The Nature Conservancy)
"One of The Nature Conservancy's goals," he explained, "is to ensure that 
the important role intact forests and other ecosystems play in mitigating 
climate change is recognized as a vital part of any policy framework 
developed to address this critical challenge." 
Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, 
called USCAP "the latest demonstration that global warming is a top 
priority in mainstream America." 
"Leaders of business in America are responsible to shareholders, employees 
and customers across every shade of American political opinion," said 
Schweiger. "They cannot afford to made decisions on the future of their 
enterprises through any partisan ideological lens." 
USCAP partners support six recommendations for national action:
  Account for the global dimensions of climate change – U.S. leadership is 
  essential for establishing an equitable and effective international 
  policy framework for robust action on climate 


  Recognize the importance of technology – The cost-effective deployment 
  of existing energy efficient technologies should be a priority 


  Be environmentally effective – mandatory requirements and incentives 
  must be stringent enough to achieve necessary emissions reductions 


  Create economic opportunity and advantage – a climate protection program 
  must use the power of the market to establish clear targets and 
  timeframes 


  Be fair – Solutions must account for the disproportionate impact of both 
  global warming and emissions reductions on some economic sectors, 
  geographic regions and income groups 


  Encourage early action – Prior to the effective date of mandatory 
  pollution limits, every reasonable effort should be made to reduce 
  emissions
The group recommends that Congress provide leadership and establish 
short-term and mid-term emission reduction targets for the main greenhouse 
gas carbon dioxide, including large stationary sources and transportation, 
and energy use in commercial and residential buildings. 
USCAP's "Call to Action" recommends that Congress establish mandatory 
emission targets to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas levels by 10 to 30 percent 
below today's levels within 15 years, and by 60 to 80 percent by 2050. 
A national program to accelerate technology research, development and 
deployment is also recommended along with approaches to encourage action 
by other countries, including those in the developing world, as the group 
recognizes that "ultimately the solution must be global." 
These principles and recommendations are the result of a shared goal of 
slowing, stopping and reversing the growth of greenhouse gas emissions 
over the shortest period of time reasonably achievable, the enlarged group 
said in a joint statement today. 
Top executives from USCAP companies have driven this effort, and new 
members were chosen carefully to preserve a high-level consensus approach, 
they said. 

Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer 
Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer displayed that 
consensus today, writing in the introduction to the company's newly 
released Sustainability Report 2006, "I have said repeatedly that, for us, 
the debate about CO2's impact on the climate is over. I am pleased at how 
our people are responding to my call to find ways to mitigate CO2 impacts 
from fossil fuels. Our focus is on what we can do to reduce CO2 emissions. 
We are determined to find better, lower-cost ways to capture and store 
CO2." 
The other oil company on USCAP's expanded membership roster is 
ConocoPhilips. "We recognize that human activity, including the burning of 
fossil fuels, is contributing to increased concentrations of greenhouse 
gases in the atmosphere that can lead to adverse changes in global 
climate," said chairman and CEO Jim Mulva. "While we believe no one entity 
can alone address the environmental, economic and technological issues 
inherent in any solution, ConocoPhillips will show leadership in finding 
pragmatic and sustainable solutions." 
Mulva says ConocoPhilips is building the potential long-term cost of 
carbon into its capital spending plans for each of its major projects 
around the world and improving energy efficiency in its facilities, 
including a 10 percent improvement in energy efficiency at its U.S. 
refineries by 2012. In addition, the company is developing internal 
targets for greenhouse gas emissions from its operations. 
As Congress starts to examine the issue of climate change, the group's 
expansion can be viewed as a catalyst for action. 
"With this lineup of companies and environmental groups endorsing it, a 
carbon cap is clearly the consensus solution to climate change," said Fred 
Krupp, president of Environmental Defense, who was active in the formation 
of USCAP. 
"With cap and trade, we've found the center," Krupp said, "environmental 
groups and businesses can embrace because it guarantees results for the 
climate while freeing companies to hunt for innovative, least-cost ways to 
lower emissions."    

       
      

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