They Grow Up So Fast

Corporations join green groups to push for U.S. climate action

Quivering under the bed was an option, but 10 major corporations have bravely formed a coalition with four U.S. green groups instead, calling for a national limit on carbon emissions. Their aim is a 10 to 30 percent cut over the next 15 years, using a cap-and-trade system that would allow over-emitters to buy credits from those who fall under the cap. The United States Climate Action Partnership, which wins today's kinda-clever acronym award, includes heavy-hitters like GE, BP, Alcoa, and Duke Energy. Such companies are motivated by fears of a patchwork of state-level regulations, the specter of a fossil-fuel tax, and the unknown predilections of a post-Bush president. Some of the same companies are also part of the new 3C Initiative, a global group looking to Combat Climate Change in the post-Kyoto world of 2013. The ringleader, Swedish utility Vattenfall, claims limiting greenhouse gases could cost 40 percent less than last year's landmark Stern report predicted. Gotta love that bottom line.