Some Carbon Belchers Seek New Image on Global Warming

Ten of the nation’s largest companies, including Caterpillar and former Global Climate Coalition member, Duke Power, say they now want Congressional legislation to limit climate change--including at least a 10 percent annual national decline in carbon dioxide emissions. A Sierra Club spokesman offered hope that the companies will “throw not just their messaging weight but their political weight behind [the call for legislation].” Thomas Tanton, Institute for Energy Research vice president and global warming skeptic, called the turnabout a “good defense" against more stringent regulation. "Something less bad is better than something really bad.” How will Congress respond? Reporters for the Washington Post suggest that there is a “Harry and Louise”-type political ad by industry lurking to scare away innovation-driven legislators. “If you’re a Democrat in a moderate district, this is not the kind of vote you want to take,” Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, another industry-supported group, told the Post.