Isramart : Major companies leave carbon-rule alliance

Isramart news:
A major business and environmental alliance formed two years ago to promote federal carbon regulation shows signs of cracking as chances for federal legislation this year fade.

Duke Energy was a founding partner of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership. The group has backed some principles of legislation adopted by the House of Representatives and pending before the Senate that would limit carbon emissions.

The legislation would set a cap on emissions and allow businesses to trade carbon credits.

Two founding members, Caterpillar and BP America, announced this week they were leaving the partnership. The oil company Conoco also announced it is withdrawing. The companies said they still support the basic principles of cap and trade, but they do not support the current legislation.

Duke CEO Jim Rogers joined other U.S. CAP executives in a swing through Washington this month to support regulation. But he says “its more likely than not that they don’t do it” as Congress faces elections in 38 weeks.

“The clock’s ticking. They haven’t done health care, they haven’t done financial reform, they haven’t done a stimulus bill they want to do, and we are kind of next on the list,” he says. “I think the conventional wisdom is still it will happen next year.”

The latest efforts by U.S. CAP have tried to reframe the issue as less about addressing global warming and more about clean air, jobs and economic stimulus issues. Rogers says major U.S. companies of all sorts are hesitant to invest in new projects or expansions until the carbon issue is settled.

With the recent departures, U.S. CAP now has 28 members, including Duke, General Electric, Environmental Defense Fund, DuPont, Shell and the Natural Resources Defense Council.