Power Engineering - U.S. utilities, businesses call for mandatory carbon cap-and-trade program

22 January 2007 -- A diverse group of U.S.-based electricity providers, businesses and environmental organizations today called on the federal government to quickly enact strong national legislation to achieve significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. The group said any delay in action to control emissions increases the risk of unavoidable consequences that could necessitate even steeper reductions in the future.

This alliance, called the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), consists of the following utilities, vendors and financial institutions: Alcoa, BP America, Caterpillar, Duke Energy, DuPont, FPL Group, General Electric, Lehman Brothers, PG&E, and PNM Resources, along with four non-governmental organizations -- Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and World Resources Institute.

At a news conference today at the National Press Club, USCAP issued a landmark set of principles and recommendations to underscore the urgent need for a policy framework on climate change. The report lays out a blueprint for a mandatory economy-wide, market-driven approach to climate protection.

"The time has come for constructive action that draws strength equally from business, government, and non-governmental stakeholders," said Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO of General Electric. "These recommendations should catalyze legislative action that encourages innovation and fosters economic growth while enhancing energy security and balance of trade, ensuring U.S. leadership on an issue of significance to our country and the world."

The group hopes to send "a clear signal to lawmakers that legislative action is urgently needed." This non-partisan effort was driven by the top executives from member organizations -- companies with a combined market capitalization of more than $750 billion and environmental groups with more than one million members worldwide and global policy influence.

NRDC cited a recent TIME magazine/ABC News/Stanford University poll that finds a significant majority of Americans, about 85 percent, say they believe global warming is probably happening. An even larger percentage, 88 percent, say they think global warming threatens future generations.

The group recommends that the U.S. Congress provide leadership and establish short- and mid-term emission reduction targets; a national program to accelerate technology research, development and deployment; and approaches to encourage action by other countries, including those in the developing world.

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