Biz execs push gov’t on climate change
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: Today and tomorrow, more than 150 business executives will be up on Capitol Hill as environmental advocates. They want Congress to pass a new law cutting greenhouse gases. Jill Barshay has more.
Jill Barshay: The business executives say it’s actually in their self-interest to get stricter carbon emissions laws in place.
One of them is Ralph Izzo. He’s the CEO of a big New Jersey electric utility, PSEG. He says he doesn’t emit as much carbon as his competition. That means he’d be in a position to sell carbon permits that the proposed legislation would create. And that would make his nuclear-and-gas plants even more powerful.
Ralph Izzo: No pun intended. Yes we would be in a strong position.
Without legislation, Izzo says he’s been holding off on multibillion-dollar investments in nuclear, wind and solar energy.
Izzo: It’s just that without a price on carbon, business leaders — whether it’s energy or construction — we can’t make those investments.
Environmental activists organized these corporations, from Nike to eBay. They’re urging Congress to push through a climate change bill before a December conference in Copenhagen to forge a new global-emissions treaty.
I’m Jill Barshay for Marketplace.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
