WASHINGTON, June 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) announced two new members today -- The Chrysler Group and Ford Motor Company -- as part of its second expansion in less than six months. The group now includes 23 of the world's largest corporations and six of the nation's most respected non-governmental organizations.
The new members compliment the broad cross-section of economic sectors represented by USCAP, and bolster its collective call for the federal government to swiftly enact legislation that includes mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.
"We are pleased to join USCAP at a critical stage in the conversation on climate change, energy consumption and environmental protection. We all recognize it is time for action. Ford has long supported the six major principles of USCAP, including recognizing the importance of technology and the need to be environmentally effective. We have been actively developing a range of advanced technology vehicles to address the climate change issue," said Alan Mulally, President and CEO of Ford Motor Company.
"Now is the time for advancing a national approach to climate change where all of us -- individuals, industry and government -- take action toward reducing emissions of greenhouse gases," added Tom LaSorda, President and CEO, Chrysler Group. "We are proud to be an active member with USCAP in the development of climate policy that addresses energy use and emissions from all sectors of the U.S. economy, and ultimately drives increased energy efficiency. And we look forward to working with the USCAP members in formulating a system to control greenhouse gas emissions in a way that not just addresses the supply of energy-efficient products and commodities, but also spurs demand for them."
The expansion of the coalition will bring the total revenues of USCAP companies to over $1.9 trillion, with a total workforce of more than 2.3 million and operations in all 50 states and around the world. The members have a combined market capitalization of more than $1.9 trillion. (Market capitalization, or market cap, is derived from a company's current stock price per share times the total number of shares outstanding.)
The non-governmental organizations boast a combined membership of more than two million people worldwide, and have a long history of leadership on environmental and conservation issues around the world.
In January, USCAP issued its solutions-based report, titled A Call for Action, laying out a blueprint for an economy-wide, market driven cap-and- trade program. The recommendations embodied in the report are based on the following six key principles:
-- Account for the global dimensions of climate change;
-- Recognize the importance of technology;
-- Be environmentally effective;
-- Create economic opportunity and advantage;
-- Be fair to sectors disproportionately impacted; and,
-- Recognize and encourage early action.
Continuing its substantive work on key policy issues, USCAP has formed several working groups to build upon its recommendations in A Call for Action. USCAP has developed two policy statements, for example, to provide more details on its guidance related to energy efficiency and geologic carbon storage technologies. The policy papers offer Congress specific recommendations, and are available on the USCAP web site at http://www.us- cap.org/policystatements/.
USCAP believes U.S. leadership is essential for establishing an equitable and effective international policy framework. The coalition urges policy makers to act quickly to slow, stop and reverse the growth of greenhouse gas emissions over the shortest period of time reasonably achievable. To that end, USCAP has recommended that Congress 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 the developing world. USCAP hopes these policies will minimize the large-scale adverse impacts of climate change for humans and the natural environment.
USCAP has sought a high-level consensus approach to balance interests across industries and regions to create the best economic path to reducing global atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. This consensus-based approach has been driven by top executives of the member organizations and this practice continues with the addition of the new members.
In addition, USCAP recently engaged a team of experts to help guide its efforts, led by Merribel Ayres, President of Lighthouse Consulting Group, a government and public affairs consulting firm with an energy and environment focus, and John Ehrmann, Senior Partner at The Meridian Institute, an organization specializing in facilitation and consensus-building on public policy issues.
The founding members of USCAP include Alcoa, BP America, Caterpillar, Duke Energy, DuPont, FPL Group, Inc., General Electric, PG&E, and PNM Resources, along with four leading non-governmental organizations - Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pew Center on Global Climate Change and World Resources Institute.
Last month, 14 additional organizations joined the partnership; they are American International Group (AIG), Alcan, Boston Scientific, ConocoPhillips, Deere & Company, The Dow Chemical Company, General Motors Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Marsh, PepsiCo, Shell and Siemens, The Nature Conservancy and the National Wildlife Federation.
United States Climate Action Partnership