Sustainability advocacy group Ceres obtained signatures from 365 companies and investors for a letter it sent to 29 US governors, voicing support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan.
The letter comes right before finalization of the rule aimed at reducing US power plant carbon pollution by 30 percent by 2030. Asked why it didn’t send the letter to all 50 governors, Ceres said it only sent the letter to governors who had at least 10 or 12 companies in their region.
The 365 businesses and investors – from small local companies to large companies such as General Mills, Mars, Nestle, Staples and Unilever - represent operations in all 50 states.
The EPA Clean Power Plan, issued in June 2014, sets unique emissions reduction targets for each state to achieve by 2030 and gives states flexibility in how to best achieve their goals, such as through deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency. The plan establishes different target emission rates for each state based on regional variations in generation mix and electricity consumption.
Aside from the letter signed by 365 companies, more than a dozen companies have pledged to invest more than $140 billion to cut carbon emissions. The companies include Bank of America, General Motors, Cargill, Alcoa, Google, Microsoft and Apple.
A 2014 study by Ceres, Calvert Investments and the World Wildlife Fund found that 60 percent of Fortune 100 companies have already set their own clean energy targets.
However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is urging state governors to refuse to comply with the Clean Power Plan, and so far, governors and gubernatorial candidates in six states have either implied or said directly that they won’t comply, including in Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin.
