Caterpillar calls for Climate Change Action!

[vwlover77]

Surprising to see a big, old, industrial giant like Caterpillar get on board, especially since nearly all of their products rely on greenhouse-gas-producing engines....

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For more than 80 years, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) has been making progress possible and driving positive and sustainable change on every continent. With 2005 sales and revenues of $36.34 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. The company is a technology leader in construction, transportation, mining, forestry, energy, logistics, financing and electric power generation. Caterpillar is the leading manufacturer and supplier of truck and bus engines in the combined medium- and heavy-duty categories in North America, holding the leading position in engine shipments to vehicle manufacturers since 1999. More information is available at http://www.cat.com .

Shares are up 2% with over 6.9 million in volume. This momentum comes as Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) Chairman and CEO Jim Owens joined a diverse group of businesses and environmental organizations to call on U.S. policymakers to establish a mandatory emissions reduction program to address climate change.

Along with Caterpillar, members of the alliance - known as the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) - include market leaders Alcoa, BP America, Duke Energy, DuPont, General Electric, PG&E, PNM Resources and four leading non-governmental organizations - Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pew Center on Global Climate Change and World Resources Institute.

At a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., USCAP released a set of principles and recommendations as the basis to develop a market-driven policy framework on climate change.

"Caterpillar believes in the need for a market-based approach to the aggressive development of current and future clean technologies that reduce emissions and sustain the environment," Owens said. "As a global manufacturer, we're committed to being part of the process of finding policy solutions that meet the needs of our customers, including those currently involved in energy production. Achieving energy independence for our country will require innovation that leads to new energy sources but also new technologies to improve the use of existing abundant resources such as coal."

"Clean coal, clean diesel and combined heat and power applications are just a few examples of critical technologies that must be a part of any climate change policy. These technologies, coupled with incentives for the development of new, breakthrough approaches will yield increased sustainability and economic opportunity," he said.

Caterpillar supports a U. S. federal-level approach that is well integrated into a harmonized global system of greenhouse gas reduction initiatives, in particular one that avoids local or regional development of separate paths - requiring separate technology - in achieving emissions targets. Proposed solutions also must factor in the broad economic impact as well as the impact on existing energy sectors.

"Reducing greenhouse gas emissions can - and should - provide more economic opportunities than risks for industry and the economy," said Owens. "The goals of reduced emissions and economic growth are not mutually exclusive. As the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment and a technology leader, one of the reasons that Caterpillar is pleased to have a seat at this table is to focus on market-based solutions to issues that impact manufacturers and key customer groups, especially coal."

A copy of A Call for Action and background information on the U.S. Climate Action Partnership may be found at http://www.us-cap.org ."

[Velokid1]

=D> Really heartening to see this happening. And with industrial giants like Caterpillar and ALCOA... I'm pleasantly surprised.

HOPE.

[hambone]

I'm surprised too...a bunch of huge Mfrs banding together and going against the gov??? Crazy...
But then again, mfrs recycle almost everything - from steel chips after machining to used cutting oil. And have done so for many years, not much gets wasted. Back in my design days I was really surprised to see that.