WASHINGTON, DC— Today, the co-chairs of the Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change, Rep. Henry A. Waxman and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, wrote to over 300 businesses and organizations, soliciting their views on actions the federal government could take to reduce carbon pollution and strengthen our resiliency to climate change. The members have called for ideas for action that can be taken using the Administration’s existing authority as well as ideas that might need congressional approval. The members wrote to groups representing a wide range of key stakeholders, including industry, labor, nongovernmental organizations, academia, business and trade associations, and faith-based and public health groups.
“Today, we are calling on hundreds of diverse organizations – from the Sierra Club to the Southern Company – to give us their best ideas for addressing climate change,” said Rep. Waxman. “We can’t delay action any longer. We want to jumpstart action by seeking recommendations on what every part of government can do now.”
“Washington is gripped in a barricade of special interests on the urgent issue of climate change,” said Sen. Whitehouse. “That’s why we want to break the Beltway barricade and ask a broad array of businesses, non-profit organizations, and academic institutions to share their ideas about actions the federal government can take. Climate change is already affecting all of us, and we want to get all ideas on the table to address it.”
The ideas solicited from these key stakeholders will aid Congress and the federal government in developing effective policy responses to this growing threat. The Bicameral Task Force intends to share this information with the Obama Administration, Sen. Barbara Boxer’s Climate Change Clearinghouse, and other leaders in Congress to promote action on climate change.
The organizations whose ideas are being solicited include:
- The five largest domestic oil companies
- The five largest natural gas companies
- The five largest U.S. coal companies
- The five largest electric utilities
- The five largest financial services companies
- The five largest U.S. auto manufacturers
- The three largest U.S. defense contractors
- The top two U.S. and global reinsurers
- Labor unions representing over fourteen million American workers
- Leading environmental and public health organizations
- Universities and think tanks
Examples of the letter sent to the companies and organizations are available online here and here. The full list of recipients is available online here.
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