Washington, May 8, 2007 - General Motors announced today that it is joining more than a dozen other major companies and environmental groups as part of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) in order to address climate change by slowing, stopping and reversing the growth of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions “over the shortest period of time reasonably achievable.”
General Motors is the first automobile manufacturer to join the coalition, which organizers hope will break the stalemate over rising emissions from the transportation sector.
“GM is very pleased to join USCAP in proactively addressing the concerns posed by climate change,” said Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO of General Motors. “The key as we see it is energy diversity – being able to offer our customers vehicles that can be powered by many different energy sources and advanced propulsion systems to help displace petroleum and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
Joining GM, are environmental organizations and an array of major corporations from different sectors of the economy including insurance, aluminum, the chemical industry, and oil. Environmentalists hope that today's action by companies such as AIG, Alcan, Dow, Deere & Company, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo and Shell, which doubles the size of USCAP, will help to create the necessary momentum to convince Congress to enact a firm cap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"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. "With cap and trade, we've found the center. Environmental groups and businesses can embrace it because it guarantees results for the climate while freeing companies to hunt for innovative, least-cost ways to lower emissions," Krupp said.
Launched in January, USCAP is asking Congress to create a mandatory, comprehensive greenhouse gas cap and trade system that reduces emissions by 60 to 80 percent from current levels by 2050. "The addition of these new companies adds horsepower to the push for Congress to act quickly on a real solution to climate change," said Krupp.
The idea behind cap and trade is to put an enforceable limit on emissions and allows companies to buy and sell emissions credits to meet their obligations. Backers say that this approach provides an economic incentive for companies to reduce global warming pollution and will unleash a wave of private-sector investment in low-carbon technologies.
Since passenger cars and light trucks are a significant contributor to U.S. carbon emissions, GM's support of the USCAP is seen as a strong signal to Congress to act quickly on a comprehensive climate bill.
New member companies announced by USCAP today include Alcan, American International Group, Boston Scientific, ConocoPhillips, Deere & Company, Dow Chemical Co., General Motors Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Marsh Inc., PepsiCo, Shell, and Siemens. Also joining the group are the National Wildlife Federation and The Nature Conservancy.
For a full copy of A Call for Action and background information on the U.S. Climate Action Partnership: http://www.us-cap.org
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