WASHINGTON – The growing consensus to take national action against climate change received a major boost Monday when 10 leading U.S. corporations – including General Electric, Alcoa, DuPont and Pacific Gas & Electric – launched a coalition with four environmental groups to push for mandatory federal emissions controls.
The corporate leaders, spurred in part by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s unilateral proposal to cut greenhouse-gas emissions in California, pledged to work for specific targets and timetables to reduce current levels of carbon dioxide and airborne pollutants by 60 to 80 percent over the next 43 years.
“Action is not only justified, it’s critical – greenhouse-gas emissions are rising at an unprecedented rate,” said Peter Darbee, CEO of San Francisco-based PG&E, which provides energy to 5 percent of the U.S. market.
The unprecedented alliance of business and environmental groups was hailed by Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense, as “an historic coming together, a game-changer” that would galvanize the drive for action in Congress.
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