U.S. Climate Action Partnership: A Coalition for Change

The United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) is an unusual coalition of U.S. industry and environmental leaders set on reducing global warming through federal legislation and a market-driven approach that includes a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions.

USCAP Calls for Mandatory Caps on Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Formed in January 2007, USCAP issued a landmark set of principles and recommendations to underscore the urgent need for a policy framework on climate change. Among its other recommendations, USCAP is calling on the U.S. government to take immediate action to enact mandatory national legislation that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions 60 percent to 80 percent from current levels by 2050.

USCAP released a solutions-based report titled A Call for Action [pdf], which “lays out a blueprint for a mandatory economy-wide, market-driven approach to climate protection.”

At the heart of the plan is a cap and trade program that combines specific limits on greenhouse gas emissions with market incentives designed to stimulate investment and innovation necessary to achieve environmental goals.

USCAP’s recommendations are based on the following six 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.

Reducing Greenhouse Gases Creates Economic Opportunities
In A Call for Action, USCAP makes a strong case against the argument that attempting to reduce global warming by placing mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions would undermine the U.S. economy. President George W. Bush cited potential economic losses in refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, but USCAP argues that working to solve the problem of global warming will actually create new economic opportunities for the United States.

From A Call for Action:

"The scale of the undertaking to address climate change is enormous, and should not be underestimated. For this issue to be successfully addressed—and failure is not an option—the way we produce and use energy must fundamentally change, both nationally and globally.

"In our view, the climate change challenge, like other challenges our country has confronted in the past, will create more economic opportunities than risks for the U.S. economy. Indeed, addressing climate change will require innovation and products that drive increased energy efficiency, creating new markets. This innovation will lead directly to increased U.S. competitiveness, as well as reduced reliance on energy from foreign sources. Our country will thus benefit through increased energy security and an improved balance of trade. We believe that a national mandatory policy on climate change will provide the basis for the United States to assert world leadership in environmental and energy technology innovation, a national characteristic for which the United States has no rival. Such leadership will assure U.S. competitiveness in this century and beyond."

The founding members of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership include:

• Alcoa
• BP America
• Caterpillar
• Duke Energy
• DuPont
• FPL Group, Inc.
• General Electric
• PG&E
• PNM Resources
• Environmental Defense
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• Pew Center on Global Climate Change
• World Resources Institute

In May 2007, just four months after USCAP was founded, the organization doubled the size of its membership by adding 12 new industry members—including leading companies such as General Motors, Shell Oil, Johnson & Johnson and PepsiCo—and two new environmental members: The Nature Conservancy and the National Wildlife Federation.