Midwest Business Leaders Urged to Support Comprehensive Climate Legislation

Strategic Insights -

Noting the unprecedented breadth of support for action on climate change, Exelon Chairman and CEO John W. Rowe and Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances G. Beinecke emphasized the importance of economy-wide cap-and-trade legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In a panel discussion at the Economic Club of Chicago, Rowe and Beinecke highlighted the need for comprehensive climate legislation to address the challenge posed by climate change in the most effective and cost-efficient manner. They also pointed to the potential economic benefits of climate legislation, including a manufacturing boon in the Midwest.

Key Takeaways:

  • Exelon Chairman and CEO John W. Rowe and Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances G. Beinecke urged Midwest business leaders to support comprehensive climate legislation.
  • Rowe emphasized the need for economy-wide cap-and-trade legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and highlighted the Environmental Protection Agency's pending carbon regulations.
  • Beinecke stressed the potential economic benefits of climate legislation, including a manufacturing boon in the Midwest, citing the demand for new technologies and products like solar panels and wind turbines.
  • Exelon and NRDC, members of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, are working together with other companies, environmental organizations, and labor groups to increase awareness and support of climate legislation.
  • Under Rowe's leadership, Exelon has launched Exelon 2020, an environmental and business strategy to reduce, offset, or displace more than 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year by 2020.
  • Beinecke has led NRDC's efforts to curb global warming, move America beyond oil, revive the world's oceans, save endangered wild places, stem the tide of toxic chemicals, and accelerate the greening of China.

Statistics:

  • Exelon has approximately $19 billion in annual revenues.
  • The company has one of the industry's largest portfolios of electricity generation capacity, with a national reach and strong positions in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.
  • NRDC has 1.3 million members and online activists served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Beijing.
  • New wind turbines require 250 tons of steel.
  • Exelon distributes electricity to approximately 5.4 million customers in northern Illinois and southeastern Pennsylvania.
  • Exelon trades on the NYSE under the ticker EXC.

Sources:

  • Exelon Corporation
  • Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
  • U.S. Climate Action Partnership
  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • Thomas Paine's classic book "Common Sense"
  • NRDC's strategic campaign to curb global warming and green the world's oceans, save endangered wild places, and move America beyond oil
  • Biotech Week via NewsRx.com