Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Changing U.S. Climate

Deck: 

The states are getting into the act on greenhouse emissions, and the power industry is getting more proactive. What policy measures are appropriate?

Fortnightly Magazine - February 2005
This full article is only accessible by current license holders. Please login to view the full content.
Don't have a license yet? Click here to sign up for Public Utilities Fortnightly, and gain access to the entire Fortnightly article database online.

A growing number of U.S. utility companies have come out in favor of federal mandatory limits on emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from their facilities. Edison International's Chairman John Bryson recently called for a comprehensive national program to address global warming; eight companies constituting the "Clean Energy Group" support national "four-pollutant" legislation that would among other things seek to stabilize carbon emissions at 2001 levels by 2013; and Cinergy has voiced its support for mandatory limits on carbon emissions. Cinergy, which relies heavily on coal, is among the companies named in the landmark public nuisance lawsuit filed last July by a coalition of eight state attorneys general, led by New York's Eliot Spitzer. Furthermore, shareholder pressure has forced Cinergy and other companies to examine their risks related to climate-change regulation. Finally, companies doing business in states with mandatory carbon caps under development, such as those in Regional Greenhouse-Gas Initiative (RGGI) states, would rather have federal regulation extend those limits to the entire industry, thereby leveling the playing field on a national scale.

This full article is only accessible by current license holders. Please login to view the full content.
Don't have a license yet? Click here to sign up for Public Utilities Fortnightly, and gain access to the entire Fortnightly article database online.