Speaking today at the National Press Club, Peter Darbee, Chairman, CEO and President of PG&E Corporation urged federal policy makers to take a series of actions aimed at accelerating the nation's efforts to advance clean energy solutions and address global warming.
"Within the span of a generation, we need to significantly transform the ways we provide for our energy needs," said Darbee. "If we rise to the challenge, we can head off the dangers of global warming. We can help secure America's long-term economic prosperity. We can reduce our dependence on unstable parts of the world. And we can even instill in our nation a new sense of global leadership."
In particular, Darbee called on Washington to respond to this challenge by setting clear and achievable long-term national requirements for lowering global warming emissions across all sectors of the economy. Mandatory federal emissions targets would, he said, create the certainty and consistency that U.S. companies need to move forward with the strategic planning and investments that will be essential for progress on clean energy and climate change. Darbee advocated strongly in favor of establishing a broad-based, national cap and trade system to achieve the long-term requirements.
In part, Darbee's blueprint calls for:
