US-Based Business Roundtable Faces Climate Change Head On

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"Business Roundtable, an association of 160 chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies, has announced a new policy statement on climate change, acknowledging that climate change poses a serious risk and that the time for action is now...The Roundtable’s new policy statement proposes a series of benchmarks and principles against which climate change policy proposals should be measured."

"Chad Holliday, chairman and CEO, DuPont, and chairman of Business Roundtable’s Environment, Technology and the Economy Task Force, commented, “The thinking of U.S. CEOs on climate change is evolving significantly. A growing number of CEOs view it as a major issue for their companies and many of us have called for timely U.S. action.”"

The 4-page statement can be downloaded as a pdf file here. We notice that Business Roundtable members like trees. See below for an excerpt on that subject (bolding is ours).

Adopting Global Solutions to a Global Problem
Climate change is global both in its causes and its impacts and requires a global
response. Focusing on the U.S. alone will not reduce worldwide GHG emissions
or stabilize atmospheric concentrations. An equitable and effective global
framework for addressing climate change should be put in place under which all
major emitting countries (including China, Brazil and India) are committed to
appropriate emission reduction goals. It should also address tropical
deforestation, which contributes roughly 20% of total anthropogenic GHG
emissions. U.S. leadership in establishing this global framework is essential."

Why is this important? We hope this means that at least 160 chief executives, when approached for election campaign donations, or when setting out corporate PAC platforms, will ask about climate change. And, we hope they'll hold employees accountable for making more efficient products and services.