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Getting Ready to Reduce Greenhouse Gas

For years, American power companies and other large corporations fought against regulations that would limit carbon dioxide emissions, a major source of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

But now, the trend is shifting. Companies have accepted that they will eventually be forced to cut emissions and some are beginning to do so voluntarily. Whether they like it or not, they’ve seen the writing on the wall.

At least six major energy companies (Shell, Duke Energy, Exelon, General Electric, Sempra Energy and PNM Resources) have publicly supported mandatory limits on carbon dioxide emissions. Wal-Mart – the world’s largest retailer – has also come out on record in support of CO2 limits.

Others have already made reductions. BP (formerly British Petroleum) has been working since 1997 to reduce emissions and recently did so by 10 percent at all of its refineries and plants. It now plans to build a $1 billion plant that will convert petroleum coke into hydrogen, preventing roughly 4 million tons of carbon emissions per year.

Others, however, continue to fight the inevitable. ExxonMobil has poured millions of dollars into opposition to carbon emissions limits and tried to raise doubts about the need for them. Automakers have also fought against forced limits on carbon emissions, though some, such as Toyota, have broken ranks and are setting the lead on making alternative-fuel vehicles available to consumers.

Climate experts say we need to drastically reduce emissions now, in order to prevent irreversible damage from global warming in the not-too-distant future. With polar ice caps melting and other impacts being felt around the world already, many are concerned that we’re not acting quickly enough.

To learn more about what you can do to slow global warming right now, go to www.fightglobalwarming.com.

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To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org