Congressional Democrats' Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change has written to Google, the NBA, the NFL, Walmart, Wells Fargo, the Clinton Global Initiative and more than 300 other organizations to canvas their opinions on combating global warming.
The letter, which was also sent to companies including Whole Foods, Target, Ford, Northrup Grumman and McDonald's, asks for input as to what climate change measures federal agencies such as the EPA and the Department of Energy could carry out using existing powers.
"The window to prevent catastrophic climate change is rapidly closing. If we do not act soon, our children and future generations will suffer from irreversible changes to our climate that we are causing. We have a moral obligation to act," the letter reads.
As partisan political gridlock grips Washington, the letter is specifically seeking suggestions for measures that could be enacted without congressional approval to either reduce emissions of "heat-trapping pollution" or make the nation more resilient to the effects of climate change.
The letter also asks for suggestions for new legislation on global warming, although tellingly, given recent congressional inaction on the issue, this is the third and final request in the letter.
Other companies to receive the letter include 3M, Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, BP, Chevron, Chrysler, Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical, Duke Energy, Exxon, FedEx, Gap, GE, GM, Hasbro, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, News Corporation, Nike, Pepsi, Pfizer, SC Johnson, Shell, Sprint, Starbucks, Time Warner, Unilever and Verizon. The full list of organizations that received the letter can be seen here.
In other news, in 2012 the US's carbon emissions fell to their lowest levels since 1994, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance report. This means that the US has reduced its carbon emissions by 13 percent since a 2007 high of 6.02 gigatons, the report says.
The country also almost doubled its renewable energy capacity from 43.5 GW in 2008 to 85.7 GW in 2012, the report says.
