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顶级首席执行官地址气候变化

A collaboration between ten major U.S. companies and four environmental organizations calls on the Federal government to quickly enact strong legislation to reduce greenhouse emissions, Anne Moore Odell writes on SocialFunds.com.

On Monday January 22, 2007, the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) released a report that urges the Federal government to create legislation to cut gas emissions that lead to the warming of the atmosphere. The report was timed to appear right before President Bush's 2007 State of the Union address the following day. USCAP's statements clearly outline the steps they think are necessary for combating climate change.

USCAP's strength lies in its membership, which includes a small, but influential group of U.S. companies and environmental organizations. Its corporate members include Alcoa, BP America, Caterpillar, Duke Energy, DuPont, FPL Group, General Electric, Lehman Brothers, PG&E, and PNM Resources. Four non-governmental organizations joined with these business leaders: Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and World Resources Institute.

BP America董事长兼总裁Bob Malone告诉SocialFunds.com:“当您试图理解任何复杂的问题时,与一群利益相关者互动非常重要。USCAP框架文档是一个多样化的群体工作的一个很好的例子共同帮助制定像气候政策一样复杂的问题。”

Entitled "A Call for Action," USCAP's solutions-based report outlines a market-driven approach to climate protection. Six principles power the report:
1.说明气候变化的全球维度;
2. Recognize the importance of technology;
3. Be environmentally effective;
4. Create economic opportunity and advantage;
5.对部门的影响不成比例;和
6. Recognize and encourage early action.
USCAP member DuPont stressed the importance of Federal legislation. "We think it is time for Congress to act on federal climate change legislation," said Dawn Rittenhouse, Dupont's Director of Sustainable Development. "Efforts by Congress are important, and we believe that a well-constructed federal policy that relies on market-based mechanisms will give business the regulatory certainty that we need to make investment and planning decisions."

USCAP's recommendations are based on a "cap and trade" program of mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. USCAP asks lawmakers to create laws that tell all sectors to reduce emissions including large stationary sources, transportation, and energy use.

The "cap and trade" program would create a national cap on greenhouse gas emissions and a national market for trading carbon credits, with a later goal of creating an international carbon trading market. A carbon trading market would set a limit for the amount of carbon any company could emit. A company that emitted more carbon than allowed would have to pay a fine or find a company that was willing to trade of its unspent allowed carbon emissions. The implementation of the program would be economy-wide with chances for agriculture and forestry industries to take part, and with an overall focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy.

对USCAP公告的反应在很大程度上是积极的,其中许多左右都鼓掌了组织的目标。环境政策总监Ana Unruh Cohen在华盛顿特区的一名进步智囊团美国进步中心迅速认可了USCAP的报告。Speaking with SocialFunds.com, she said, "As business and environmental leaders they represent a broad constituency ready to act to avert dangerous climate change. Their efforts will be critical for educating the American people and their elected officials at every level of government."

如果全部甚至某些报告的建议已通过法律,则USCAP成员公司有很多收益。这十个公司中有许多已经开始生产解决气候变化和/或已经采取措施减少温室气体排放的产品。GE一方面推出了“ Ecomagination”,这是GE致力于使用工业,基础设施,运输和家庭产品的绿色未来的承诺。好用的买球外围app网站

"I think we will see a serious attempt to include much of what they recommend in climate legislation as it moves in the 110th Congress. President Bush's State of the Union address last week made clear he is not yet ready to seriously tackle the serious issue of climate change," Cohen continued in response to the report. "But if [Bush] is to come around to supporting mandatory action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, I think it will come through efforts by the business community like the U.S. Climate Action Partnership."

USCAP recognizes that climate change is a global issue. Besides the "cap and trade" program it puts forth, it also suggests encouraging action in other countries to help cut greenhouse gas. Furthermore the report suggests cleaner technologies need to be supported including existing technologies such as wind, solar and nuclear power that emit little or no greenhouse gases.

USCAP's report lays out a plan to establish a mandatory cap on carbon emissions with the final goal of cutting greenhouse gas emission 70% to 90% of current levels in 15 years.

ABC News和Stanford University最近对《时代》杂志进行调查的美国人中有85%的人说,他们认为全球变暖可能正在发生。有52%的人在受到调查的人中有利政府的授权和多数(61%)表示,他们将支持政府授权降低电厂的排放。USCAP合作反映了这样一种信念,即大多数美国人都认为现在可能正在发生全球变暖。这些商业和环境领导人告诉国会和总统,自愿行业减少温室排放并不令人满意,现在是国会通过法律解决气候变化的时候了。

Jennifer Layke, Deputy Director, Climate Energy and Pollution Program for the World Resource Institute, summed up the urgency USCAP members feel, "We have no time to lose. Congress must begin serious and studied dialogue now. The response has been tremendous. There is clearly a new determination to find a path forward."

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