Statement of Edison Electric Institute President Tom Kuhn on President Bush's Climate Change Speech

Washington, DC () - Following is a statement by Edison Electric Institute President Tom Kuhn on President Bush’s remarks today on climate change:

“Climate change is arguably the biggest environmental challenge of our lifetime, and it is critical that both the administration and Congress be fully engaged in finding a solution. We are pleased that President Bush today has offered a thoughtful proposal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He touched on a number of crucial elements that must be incorporated into an effective response.

“For example, the President underscored the critical importance of technologies needed to achieve deep reductions in carbon emissions. These include the addition of emissions-free nuclear power plants, advanced clean coal technology with carbon capture and storage, and renewables. Expanding energy efficiency efforts also is a critical component. Finally, it is also crucial that any emissions reduction timetables match up with the availability of all the necessary technologies.

Elaborating further, Kuhn cited some other important considerations as the climate debate continues:

• Any successful approach must be economy-wide: The power sector emits about one third of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, so an effective federal policy response must apply to the entire U.S. economy.
• Electricity growth will continue unabated: Electricity demand is projected to increase by 30 percent over the next couple of decades – even with significant efficiency improvements – so we’ll need to reduce emissions even as we generate more electricity.
• Climate change is a global issue: The solution will require the participation of all major emitting countries, including those like China, whose greenhouse gas emissions already have surpassed ours.
• All technology options are needed: Utilities are working aggressively to secure all the technologies we’ll need to address climate change – including increased energy efficiency and renewables, new nuclear generation, advanced coal technologies, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and “smart-grid” technologies.

Targets must be realistic: Some of what needs to happen is within our control, and some of it isn’t – such as how much electricity consumers use, how quickly new nuclear generation can be permitted and built, and how aggressively the government partners with us to prove and deploy carbon capture and storage.

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The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the association of U.S. shareholder-owned electric companies. Our members serve 95 percent of the ultimate customers in the shareholder-owned segment of the industry, and represent approximately 70 percent of the U.S. electric power industry. We also have more than 65 International electric companies as Affiliate members, and more than 170 industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate members.