Environmental Leader

The U.S. Climate Action Partnership recently unveiled A Blueprint for Legislative Action (PDF), which calls for a cap-and-trade system, a 42 percent emissions reduction below 2005 levels by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050, limits on emissions from petroleum products and natural gas, and a carbon market board to examine offsets and contain costs, Washington Post reports.

The plan would also require coal plants permitted after Jan. 1, 2015, to keep their level of CO2 to less than half of levels currently considered “normal.”

The plan has elements designed to win corporate support, but those will likely be criticized by some supporters of cap-and-trade. Some lawmakers may also hesitate to support a proposal that could cost up to $540 million a year for a 1,000 megawatt plant so it can capture CO2 emissions.

The group was formed in 2007 by General Electric, DuPont, Alcoa, Caterpillar, Duke Energy, PG&E, FPL Group, PNM Resources, BP, Lehman Brothers, Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and World Resources Institute.

(This article has been corrected, it had incorrectly stated that USCAP called for a 42 percent emissions reduction below 2005 levels by 2050. It is actually calling for a a 42 percent emissions reduction below 2005 levels by 2030.)

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