Dow Chemical Wants Cap and Trade – Now

In a Senate Panel hearing July 9, 2009,  Rich Wells, VP of energy at Dow Chemical, told congress to act quickly and pass a cap and trade program to fight climate change. Dow joins other industry representatives such as GE and Exelon in calling for a price on carbon.

Speaking to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Wells stated “We believe the cost of inaction will far exceed the cost of comprehensive, far-ranging and expeditious action today.” While many in congress fear a stifling of industry will occur with a cap-and-trade system, Wells believes that the business opportunities in this market are substantial. He stated that companies that have taken strategic steps to reduce their energy consumption, much like Dow has, will be in a position to benefit from such a program.

The current bill being considered proposes reducing U.S. emissions 14% below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83% below by 2050. It is estimated that auctions for carbon rights could raise $646 billion by 2019.

www.SustainabiliTank.info thinks that the figures in the bill are much too low and amount only to 4% reduction by 2020 as per the 1990 base. This is totally unacceptable to the EU that proposed a 20% figure for that interval – that is 5 times the US figure.