Major Companies Call for Cap and Trade Program to Halt Global Warming
A coalition of major corporations and environmental groups recently announced an agreement to support bold action on global warming.
A coalition of major corporations and environmental groups recently announced an agreement to support bold action on global warming.
The companies, including Alcoa, BP America, Caterpillar, Duke Energy, DuPont, Florida Power & Light, GE, Lehman Brothers, PG&E Corporation and PNM, joined with Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pew Center on Global Climate Change and World Resources Institute to brief congressional leaders on the plan. Together, the companies form the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP).
USCAP’s goal is to help the U.S. create public policy that would act aggressively and sustainably to slow, stop and reverse the growth of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) .
Toward this end, USCAP urges lawmakers to enact a policy framework for mandatory reductions of emissions from major emitting sectors, including large stationary sources, transportation, and energy use in commercial and residential buildings. The cornerstone of this approach would be a cap-and-trade program to cut greenhouse gas emissions 60 to 80 percent from current levels by 2050, with interim targets at five, 10, and 15 years, according to NRDC.
Environmental Defense president Fred Krupp stressed the importance of involving business not only to increase pressure on Congress, but ensure that any plan for fixing climate change was also a boost for the U.S. economy. "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,” says Krupp.
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