DuPont and Delmarva Power parent Exelon joined a dozen Fortune 500 companies in urging a carbon pricing policy that will combat climate change and add predictability to the regulatory environment.
This initiative, known as The CEO Climate Dialogue urged the President and Congress to put in place a long-term federal policy as soon as possible.
The group aims to build bipartisan support for climate policies that will increase regulatory and business certainty, reduce climate risk, and spur investment and innovation needed to meet science-based emissions reduction targets, a release stated.
“DuPont is pleased to be part of The CEO Climate Dialogue and support its guiding principles to accelerate the development of federal policy on climate change,” stated CEO-elect Marc Doyle. “At DuPont, our science and innovation is inextricably linked with sustainability practices that deliver specialized materials that contribute to a safer, healthier, more sustainable world. We believe strong, consistent policy measures and a cohesive regulatory environment are needed to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and foster innovation, investment and economic growth.”
Other companies involved in The CEO Dialogue include BASF Corporation, BP, Citi, Dominion Energy, Dow, DTE Energy, Ford Motor Company, LafargeHolcim, PG&E Corporation, Shell, and Unilever.
The group received input from four environmental groups – the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, Environmental Defense Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and World Resources Institute.
The CEO Dialogue advocates six principles.
- Significantly reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions so that the U.S. is demonstrably a leader on global efforts to effectively limit climate change. Specifically, U.S. policy should ensure the country is on a path to achieve economy-wide emissions reductions of 80% or more by 2050, with aggressive near- and mid-term emission reductions commensurate with this goal.
- Effective: A key test of any climate policy is whether it will deliver timely emissions reductions across the economy and includes mechanisms that provide certainty that emission goals are met. The timeline for reductions must allow capital-intensive industries to adjust in an economically rational manner. Policies must encourage investment and planning decisions consistent with the timeframes needed. Policies must focus on emissions reductions outcomes, not specific resources or technologies.
- Market-based: An economy-wide price on carbon is the best way to use the power of the market to achieve carbon reduction goals in a simple, coherent and efficient manner. We desire to do this at the least cost to the economy and households. Markets will also spur innovation and create and preserve quality jobs in a growing low-carbon economy.
- Durable and responsive: Well-designed and stable policies will deliver predictable results and increase public support over time, providing durability across time and political cycles. Policies should be adaptive over time in terms of pace and scope of reductions as our understanding of climate change, policy impact, and technological changes evolve.
- Do no harm: Policies must support the competitiveness of the U.S. economy. Policies must address emissions leakage that can undermine climate objectives. Policies must also safeguard against negative impacts on biodiversity, land, and water.
- Promote equity: Unabated climate change is a major threat to the U.S. economy. Therefore, policies to address climate change, which may also entail some cost, must provide transparency and promote affordability while distributing costs and benefits in such a way that promotes equity. Policies must include mechanisms to invest in American workers and in disadvantaged communities that have the least resources to manage the costs of climate change.
Carbon pricing would set a price on emissions from power plants and other sites, with the goal of reducing pollution via taxes or other incentives to reduce pollution.
The effort comes as the Trump Administration works to keep older coal-fired power plants open and some Democrats push for a “Green New Deal” that would make drastic changes. Delaware and other states are also moving aggressively on climate change with varied policies.
