Business Roundtable Urges Congress and the Administration to Support All Forms of Energy, Electric Grid.

New Report Highlights Need for Policies That Address Climate Change Without Hampering the U.S. Economy

WASHINGTON -- Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies, today called on Congress and the Administration to support both renewable and traditional sources of energy as we transition to a low-carbon economy. Citing the need to protect energy security and economic growth while reducing GHG emissions, Business Roundtable's report, Unfinished Business: The Missing Elements of a Sustainable Energy and Climate Policy, outlines key policies that Congress has not yet addressed in its effort to craft climate change and energy legislation.

"We need to put all energy sources on the table and commit to the development and deployment of advanced energy technologies," said Michael G. Morris, Chairman, President and CEO, American Electric Power and Chair of Business Roundtable's Sustainable Growth Initiative. "This is essential to forging climate change policy that is sustainable from an environmental, economic and energy security perspective. Any approach that promotes some sources and technologies to the exclusion of others will fail to meet national GHG reduction targets and hamper our return to economic growth. However, by advancing sustainable use of traditional sources and growing use of new low-emitting sources, we can not only reduce the impact of climate change, but also preserve long-term economic prosperity for U.S. workers and companies."

The report outlines concrete legislative recommendations for Congress based on Business Roundtable's plan for addressing climate change as articulated in its energy report, More Diverse, More Domestic, More Efficient and its economic modeling study, The Balancing Act. That study identified the best ways to cut GHG levels while minimizing the economic impact. It found that successful policies for reducing GHGs must leverage a balanced portfolio of technologies and eliminate barriers to technology development and deployment. According to that study, only this combination will allow the United States to successfully reduce GHG emissions without significantly hampering economic growth.

Drawing on this guidance, today's report commends Congress for its efforts to promote energy efficiency and renewables, but notes that more must be done. Specifically, policymakers must:

* Enhance energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings and the industrial sector;

* Maintain coal's long-term viability with robust R&D investments, cost-sharing, regulatory reform and incentives for the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology;

* Encourage the expansion of nuclear power, the only existing, scalable low-carbon baseload generation technology;

* Expand and modernize the electric grid in order to develop our renewable energy potential, improve our electric reliability and drive energy efficiency; and

* Provide access for oil and natural gas exploration and production to enhance domestic energy security as alternative technologies evolve and mature.

"These are the policies we must pursue to make our nation's transition to a low-carbon economy as sustainable as possible," said John J. Castellani, President of Business Roundtable. "President Obama and Congress have the opportunity today to build a lasting solution for the future by enacting legislation that will transform the way we use established American energy sources even as we explore new ones. By doing so, we can accelerate progress towards our climate goals, while supporting the economy during this time of transition. We look forward to working with Congress and the Administration to implement these missing elements of an effective, sustainable energy policy."

For more information on Business Roundtable's Unfinished Business: The Missing Elements of a Sustainable Energy and Climate Policy, please visit www.businessroundtable.org or click here to view the report.

Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with more than $5 trillion in annual revenues and more than 12 million employees. Member companies comprise nearly a third of the total value of the U.S. stock markets and pay more than 60 percent of all corporate income taxes paid to the federal government. Annually, they return more than $167 billion in dividends to shareholders and the economy.

Business Roundtable companies give more than $7 billion a year in combined charitable contributions, representing nearly 60 percent of total corporate giving. They are technology innovation leaders, with more than $111 billion in annual research and development spending - nearly half of all total private R&D spending in the U.S.

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