Juno Beach, FL - A climate change bill approved by a Senate subcommittee Thursday would reward the country’s biggest emitters of carbon dioxide and fails to provide a reliable mechanism to prevent possible massive economic damage, the head of one of the country’s largest electric power companies said today.
“I acknowledge and applaud the willingness of key senators to try and address the important issue of global climate change. Unfortunately, the bill they have proposed, if left unchanged, would reward the country’s biggest emitters of carbon dioxide with billions of dollars of free allowances that they don’t need. Moreover, the bill contains no clear ‘safety valve,’ to ensure that we don’t inadvertently damage the economy,” said Lewis Hay, III, Chairman and CEO of FPL Group Inc. (NYSE:FPL), which operates the country’s largest wind and solar power generating facilities. His comments came after a subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted 4-3 to move the America’s Climate Security Act (S. 2191) to the full committee for hearings and a markup.
Juno Beach, FL - Florida Power & Light Company, one of the country’s largest electric utilities, has successfully reduced its carbon emissions through effective use of energy management programs. FPL, with 4.5 million customers in Florida, is a subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc., which yesterday announced a $2.4 billion investment package to promote clean electric power from new solar energy facilities and other renewable sources, and encourage greater energy conservation.