FPL Group Joins Major Businesses and Environmental Leaders in Call for Swift Action on Global Climate Change.JUNO BEACH This article is about the beach codenamed in WWII. For other uses, see Juno Beach (disambiguation) Juno Beach was one of the landing sites for Allied invaders on the coast of Normandy during D-Day. It was situated between Sword Beach and Gold Beach. , Fla. -- A diverse group of U.S.-based businesses, including FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :FPL), and leading environmental organizations today called on the federal government to quickly enact strong national legislation to achieve significant reductions of greenhouse gas greenhouse gas n. Any of the atmospheric gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. greenhouse gas emissions. The group said any delay in action to control emissions increases the risk of unavoidable consequences that could necessitate even steeper reductions in the future. In addition to FPL Group, the unprecedented alliance -- called the U.S. Climate Action Partnership The U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), formed January 22, 2007 is a co-operative group of businesses and leading environmental organizations. The group's primary purpose is to call on the U.S. (USCAP USCAP United States Climate Action Partnership USCAP United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology USCAP United States Commercial Aviation Partnership ) -- consists of market leaders Alcoa, BP America, Caterpillar, Duke Energy, DuPont, General Electric, Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH), founded in 1850, is a diversified, global financial services firm. It is a participant in investment banking, equity and fixed income sales, research and trading, investment management, private equity, and private banking. , PG&E and PNM Resources PNM Resources NYSE: PNM is an energy holding company based in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Headquartered in Albuquerque, PNM Resources supplies electricity to 725,000 homes and businesses in New Mexico and Texas and natural gas to 471,000 customers in New Mexico through its along with four leading non-governmental organizations - Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a New York City-based, non-profit non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing. Founded in 1970, NRDC today has 1. , Pew Center on Global Climate Change The Pew Center on Global Climate Change is a non-profit advocacy organization that was established in 1998. Its Board of Directors includes Kenneth Arrow and Klaus Töpfer. [1] It is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which "is working to create a policy environment , and World Resources Institute Founded in 1982, the World Resources Institute (WRI) is an environmental think tank based in Washington, D.C. WRI is an independent, non-partisan and nonprofit organization with a staff of more than 100 scientists, economists, policy experts, business analysts, statistical . "As the world leader in renewable energy Renewable energy utilizes natural resources such as sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat, which are naturally replenished. Renewable energy technologies range from solar power, wind power, and hydroelectricity to biomass and biofuels for transportation. and the nation's leading utility in energy conservation programs, FPL Group is proud to be among other industry leaders and stakeholders who are part of this positive collaboration to support the formulation of mandatory policies to reduce CO2 emissions for our country," said Lew Hay, chairman and chief executive officer of FPL Group. At a news conference today at the National Press Club, USCAP issued a landmark set of principles and recommendations to underscore the urgent need for a policy framework on climate change. The solutions-based report, titled A Call for Action, lays out a blueprint for a mandatory economy-wide, market-driven approach to climate protection. 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. The principles and the recommendations outlined in A Call for Action are the result of a year-long collaboration motivated by the shared goal of slowing, stopping and reversing the growth of greenhouse gas (GHG GHG Greenhouse Gas GHG Governor's Horse Guard (various locations) ) emissions over the shortest period of time reasonably achievable. This unique cooperation of business and environmental leaders is a clear signal to lawmakers that legislative action is urgently needed. This non-partisan effort was driven by the top executives from member organizations -- companies with a combined market capitalization Market Capitalization A measure of a public company's size. Market capitalization is the total dollar value of all outstanding shares. It's calculated by multiplying the number of shares times the current market price. This term is often referred to as market cap. of more than $750 billion and environmental groups with more than one million members worldwide and global policy influence. A Call for Action reflects a growing public concern about global warming. A recent TIME magazine/ABC News/Stanford University poll finds that a significant majority of Americans, about 85 percent, say they believe global warming is probably happening. An even larger percentage, 88 percent, say they think global warming threatens future generations. USCAP urges policy makers to enact a policy framework for mandatory reductions of GHG emissions from major emitting sectors, including large stationary sources and transportation, and energy use in commercial and residential buildings. The cornerstone of this approach would be a cap-and-trade program. The environmental goal is to reduce global atmospheric GHG concentrations to a level that minimizes large-scale adverse impacts to humans and the natural environment. The group recommends Congress provide leadership and establish short- and mid-term targets, for a national program to accelerate technology research, development and deployment; and approaches to encourage action by other countries, including those in the developing world as ultimately the solution must be global. "The Climate Action Partnership recognizes that the undertaking to address climate change is an enormous one, and should not be underestimated," said Jonathan Lash, President of the World Resources Institute. "But enacting environmentally effective, economically sustainable and fair climate change law must be a national priority." Programs to encourage efficiency and to promote cleaner technologies in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 enacted by the last Congress and supported by the President were a good step. However, they alone cannot get us to where we need to be on the climate change issue. A mandatory system is needed that sets clear, predictable, market-based requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The members of USCAP pledge to work with the President, Congress and other stakeholders to confront this vital global challenge. FPL Group, with annual revenues of more than $12 billion, is nationally known as a high quality, efficient, and customer-driven organization focused on energy-related products and services. With a growing presence in 26 states, it is widely recognized as one of the country's premier power companies. Its principal subsidiary, Florida Power & Light Company, serves 4.4 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control , an FPL Group competitive energy subsidiary, is a leader in producing electricity from clean and renewable fuels. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.FPLGroup.com, www.FPL.com and www.FPLEnergy.com. NOTE TO EDITOR: A full copy of the A Call for Action and background information on the U.S. Climate Action Partnership may be found at www.us-cap.org. Note to Editors: High-resolution logos and executive head shots are available for download at http://www.fpl.com/news/logos.shtml. |
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