Business Roundtable's 160 CEOs Join Call for Quick Action on Climate Change

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Tony Kreindler, Environmental Defense, 202-572-3378 or 202-210-5791 (cell)

(Washington – July 17, 2007) Environmental Defense today applauded a resounding statement from the 160 chief executive officers in the Business Roundtable that climate change poses a serious risk and that action must be taken now to curb rising greenhouse gas emissions.

“There’s a freight train of momentum for action, and everyone is on board,” said David Yarnold, executive vice president of Environmental Defense. “Leaders from across the political spectrum and throughout the business world are now on the record – the problem is real, we can fix it, and it’s time to get started.”

The Business Roundtable, whose 160 members from every sector of the U.S. economy represent $4.5 trillion in annual revenues and more than 10 million employees, today said in a consensus Climate Change Statement that the consequences of global warming are potentially serious and far-reaching and that steps should be taken now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Business Roundtable members supporting the statement include major energy interests, including the ExxonMobil Corporation, Peabody Energy Company, and Southern Company. According to the Climate Change Statement, “Because the consequences of global warming for society and ecosystems are potentially serious and far-reaching, steps to address the risks of such warming are prudent now even while the science continues to evolve.”

The group did not endorse a specific approach to reducing emissions, but it offered a set of key policy benchmarks as Congress weighs its options. According to the Business Roundtable, policies should be effective in reducing emissions, maximize the use of markets, encourage technology solutions, be cost-effective, provide certainty to companies, and foster innovation and new business opportunities.

Environmental Defense believes the policy that best meets those benchmarks is a cap and trade system for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Cap and trade guarantees results by putting an enforceable limit on emissions, maximizes the use of markets by creating economic incentives for pollution reductions, and fosters innovation by freeing companies to invest in the best and least-cost emissions reduction opportunities.