Emissions from power plants, manufacturers and oil refiners will be capped, and polluters must obtain a permit for every ton of greenhouse gases pumped into the atmosphere, under the plan. Those that exceed their caps will have to buy permits from emitters who reduce their output of greenhouse gases, under a so- called cap-and-trade program.

The group proposes slashing emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases 42 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

 

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Rio Tinto Group, General Electric and U.S. electricity producers will present the proposal tomorrow to a Congressional committee and recommend “urgent” action, according to a copy of the report by the 32-member coalition obtained by Bloomberg News.

Congress will hear the plan five days before President-elect Barack Obtama takes office on a promise to cut the amount of greenhouse gases released in the U.S. by 2050 to 80 percent below 1990 levels.

The U.S. Climate Action Partnership’s’s proposal aims to strike a balance between the interests of industrial polluters and environmental activists, Duke Energy Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jim Rogers said in prepared testimony.

“No one got everything they wanted, but we all got what we feel is needed to ensure a sound climate-change policy is created,” Rogers said in testimony to be delivered before the House Energy and Commerce Committee tomorrow.

The group proposes slashing emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases 42 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Emissions from power plants, manufacturers and oil refiners will be capped, and polluters must obtain a permit for every ton of greenhouse gases pumped into the atmosphere, under the plan. Those that exceed their caps will have to buy permits from emitters who reduce their output of greenhouse gases, under a so- called cap-and-trade program.

CEOs Line Up Chief executives from Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE, the world’s biggest maker of power-plant turbines, and other companies are expected to testify to the Energy committee tomorrow, committee aides said.

Among them are London-based Rio Tinto, the third-largest mining company, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Duke, the third- biggest U.S. electricity producer from coal, as well as

PG&E Corp., Siemens AG and ConocoPhillips.