The USCAP says "We Know Enough to Act on Climate Change!"

A Business and NGO Partnership called USCAP (U.S. Climate Action Partnership) has published a report called 'A Call for Action: Consensus Principles and Recommendations'. The partnership constitutes of Alcan Inc., Alcoa, American International, Group, Inc. (AIG), Boston Scientific Corporation, BP America Inc., Caterpillar Inc., ConocoPhillips, The Chrysler Group, Deere & Company, The Dow Chemical Company, Duke Energy, DuPont, Environmental Defense, Exelon Corporation, Ford Motor Company, FPL Group, Inc., General Electric, General Motors Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Marsh, Inc., National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources, Defense Council, NRG Energy, Inc., The Nature Conservancy, PepsiCo, Pew Center on Global, Climate Change, PG&E Corporation, PNM Resources, Rio Tinto, Shell, Siemens Corporation, World Resources Institute, Xerox Corporation.

USCAP says; "In June 2005, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences joined with the scientific academies of ten other countries in stating that “the scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt actions.” Each year we delay action to control emissions increases the risk of unavoidable consequences that could necessitate even steeper reductions in the future, at potentially greater economic cost and social disruption. Action sooner rather than later preserves valuable response options, narrows the uncertainties associated with changes to the climate, and should lower the costs of mitigation and adaptation. 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. USCAP commits as; "We, the members of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, pledge to work with the President, the Congress, and all other stakeholders to enact an environmentally effective, economically sustainable, and fair climate change program consistent with our principles at the earliest practicable date."

USCAP believes a U.S. policy framework must include the following; • Mandatory approaches to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the major emitting sectors including emissions from large stationary sources, transportation, and energyuse in commercial and residential buildings that could be phased in over time, with attention to near-, mid-and long-term time horizons; • Flexible approaches to establish a price signal for carbon that may vary by economic sector and could include, depending on the sector: market-based incentives; performance standards; cap-and-trade; tax reform; incentives for technology research, development, and deployment; or other appropriate policy tools; and • Approaches that create incentives and encourage actions by other countries, including large emitting economies in the developing world, to implement GHG emission reduction strategies.

See full USCAP RECOMMENDATIONS @ http://www.pewclimate.org/docUploads/USCAP%20Report%20FINAL%20070117.pdf