Addressing Climate Change Can Reinvent American Industry
DuPont Chairman Calls for Legislation to Include Cap-and-Trade Program
Washington, D. C. (Vocus) April 22, 2009
Addressing climate change may be the single greatest opportunity to reinvent American industry while putting the United States on a more sustainable path forward, DuPont Chairman Charles O. Holliday, Jr. told the U. S. House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee here today.
"We need sound policy that takes broad, coordinated, economically sustainable actions across the entire economy," Holliday said. "We need clear, strong and workable emission reduction goals that will show us the pathway to a low-carbon economy. And we need a cap-and-trade program that focuses our efforts on the emission reduction opportunities that offer the most environmental benefits for the lowest costs."
Holliday spoke on behalf of the U. S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a group of companies and non-governmental organizations which have come together to forge a consensus view regarding the United States' actions on the challenging issue of climate change. DuPont and other USCAP members believe that there is sufficient scientific evidence on climate change to warrant prudent action.
Between 1990 and 2004, DuPont reduced greenhouse gas emissions 72 percent globally from its operations through a variety of innovative efforts. The company has further committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by 2015 from a base year of 2004.
"The current economic situation has served as a reminder to the importance of our resources and how efficiently and wisely they must be used, and a federal climate change program must be both environmentally effective and economically sustainable," said Holliday. "At the same time, we cannot allow the current economic conditions to slow our efforts. A federal climate change program has the potential to create real economic growth through innovation."
DuPont - one of the first companies to publicly establish environmental goals 19 years ago - has broadened its sustainability commitments beyond internal footprint reduction to include market-driven targets for both revenue and research and development investment. The goals are tied directly to business growth, specifically to the development of safer and environmentally improved new products for key global markets.
DuPont is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation.
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