U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP)
The U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) is a collaborative initiative formed by a coalition of businesses and environmental organizations aimed at advocating for effective climate protection policies in the United States. Established with the goal of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, USCAP seeks to engage with Congress and the presidency to promote fair and economically sustainable climate solutions. The founding members included fourteen businesses and four environmental organizations, with notable participants like Alcoa, Ford, and the Environmental Defense Fund.
USCAP has produced key documents outlining its design principles for climate legislation, including "A Blueprint for Legislative Action," which offers recommendations to reduce emissions while maintaining economic productivity. Among these recommendations is the suggestion to allow businesses to invest in forest conservation and to incentivize the development of emissions-reducing technologies. The organization argues that policy changes based on its recommendations could lead to innovation, energy security, and economic growth.
However, USCAP has faced criticism, with some viewing its positions as self-serving and expressing concerns about potential conflicts of interest among its members. Critics argue that proposals like cap-and-trade may allow polluters to evade accountability, raising questions about the commitment of some member companies to USCAP's climate goals. This contentious backdrop highlights the complexities surrounding climate action and the diverse perspectives within the dialogue on effective environmental policies.
Subject Terms
U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP)
Identification: Alliance of business corporations and leading environmental organizations that promotes the passage of federal legislation to reduce greenhouse gases
Date: Established on January 22, 2007
The U.S. Climate Action Partnership represents a shift in direction among many corporations toward working with environmentalists and others to address the problem of global warming.
Members of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) pledge to work with the Congress and the president of the United States, as well as other stakeholders, in enacting climate protection programs that are fair, economically sustainable, and environmentally effective, with the goal of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Fourteen businesses and four environmental organizations were the initial founding members of USCAP. Since its founding, the organization has both gained and lost members; environmental organizations that were members in 2010 included the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Nature Conservancy, and business members included Alcoa, Chrysler, the Ford Motor Company, PepsiCo, and the Dow Chemical Company.
USCAP outlines a series of design principles and recommendations for legislation to address the problem of global warming in a document titled A Call for Action. In 2009 USCAP published A Blueprint for Legislative Action: Consensus Recommendations for U.S. Climate Protection Legislation, which addresses how the United States can reduce greenhouse gas emissions without hindering the strength and productivity of the American economy. Among the recommendations offered in this document are that businesses be allowed to invest in forest conservation programs to meet their required emission reductions and that businesses be offered incentives to engage in the development and deployment of emissions-reducing technologies.
USCAP asserts that policy changes based on its recommendations would result in innovation, energy security, and economic growth. Furthermore, such changes would improve the U.S. balance of trade and demonstrate much-needed U.S. leadership on the issue of climate change. Some critics have argued, however, that USCAP supports self-serving regulations and policy changes that would be beneficial to its members, such as a cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon dioxide emissions; many environmentalists assert that cap-and-trade systems in effect reward polluters by protecting them from paying the cost of compliance with regulations.
Prior to joining USCAP, some of the group’s members were strongly opposed to any regulation aimed at reducing greenhouse gases and lobbied against U.S. ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Some scientists and environmentalists have expressed concerns that the same companies that are members of USCAP are also engaged in lobbying against USCAP’s stated goals.