Business Roundtable Statement on Senate Climate Change Legislation

Business Wire, June 2, 2008

WASHINGTON -- "The environmental and societal consequences of global climate change demand action. America's leading CEOs are committed to working with Congress, the administration and global business leaders to reduce and stabilize global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to levels that will address the risks of climate change.

Technology is vital in achieving an environmentally and economically sustainable future. GHG emissions reduction targets must correspond with realistic estimates of deployment of new energy technologies.

Business Roundtable believes any legislative action by Congress should:

* Balance action on climate change with the need for economic sustainability;

* Minimize cost and maximize certainty;

* Ensure federal pre-emption of state law; and

* Maintain international competitiveness.

While some aspects of S. 3036, the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008, have moved in the right direction, the bill must balance the risks posed by climate change with U.S. economic and energy security.

We will continue to work with the president and Congress to implement a solution that protects both our environment and our economy," said Mike Morris, chairman, president and CEO of American Electric Power, Inc. and chairman of Business Roundtable's Sustainable Growth Initiative.

For more information on Business Roundtable's position on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008, please click here to read the legislative policy statement.

Business Roundtable (www.businessroundtable.org) is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with $4.5 trillion in annual revenues and nearly 10 million employees. Member companies comprise nearly a third of the total value of the U.S. stock markets and represent over 40 percent of all corporate income taxes paid to the federal government. Collectively, they returned $114 billion in dividends to shareholders and the economy in 2006.