FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 3, 1999

CONTACT: Kevin Fay 703-841-0626 703-243-2874 (fax)

        Arlington, VA -- The International Climate Change Partnership (ICCP) today announced that it is urging Congress to continue to work towards passage of legislation on credit for voluntary early action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

        ICCP Executive Director Kevin Fay stated, "ICCP has consistently stressed the need to provide legally binding assurances that voluntary actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be credited in any future mandatory scheme adopted by the government." His comments were made in testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee at a field hearing in Providence, Rhode Island. The subject of the hearing was S.547, the "Credit for Voluntary Reductions Act" which was recently introduced in the Senate.

        "Many companies have already taken steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or have pledged action in the near future. It is important that Congress provide legally binding assurances that these actions will be credited if some future regulatory mandate arises," stated Fay. In his testimony, Fay cited recent reports by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reporting hundreds of millions of tons of carbon equivalent emission reductions already achieved by industry.

        Fay indicated that the business community cannot address and resolve the climate change issue on its own. A realistic dialogue must begin that helps clarify longer-term objectives and recognizes short-term activities. Credit for early action is an appropriate issue to initiate this dialogue.

        ICCP is urging the following simplified goals for early action credit legislation:

1. Provide legal guarantees to any entity that acts voluntarily to achieve verifiable reductions related to products, processes, or operations, that it will not be disadvantaged by a future regulatory program to control greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Provide a mechanism for verifying any actions that occurred between 1990 and 1999, under Energy Policy Act Section 1605 (b), as part of the US Climate Change Action Plan, or any other activity in which the entity is able to demonstrate verifiable reductions.
3. Provide a mechanism for prospective actions which, subject to negotiation of an agreement with the government, produce verifiable reductions.

        In a February letter to the Senate, ICCP urged members to co-sponsor early credit legislation and pointed out that while many complicated issues still need to be resolved, S.547 represents a credible starting point. ICCP has been working with Senate staff on potential revisions to the bill.

        ICCP released a list of principles on credit for early action last fall. Support for passage of final legislation will depend on consistency with these principles and resolution of a number of key issues, including the coverage of "manufactured products" and the related greenhouse gas emissions savings associated with their use, and how to deal with a wide variety of industry sectors having different growth characteristics.