Big Companies Assume Future CO2 Emissions Price to Cut Costs and Risks in Planning

Last week's report from U.K.-based CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, notes that 27 major U.S. firms responding to questions on corporate climate policy said they are using some form of internal carbon pricing, and most anticipate that government regulation -- in the form of cap-and-trade programs or carbon taxes -- will eventually become a routine part of doing business.

"Companies view the establishment of an internal carbon price as both an evaluation of risk and a business opportunity if they take steps to limit carbon pollution before others do," Tom Carnac, CDP's president of North American activities, said in a statement.

Eight of the companies surveyed were large U.S. electric power producers representing nearly every region and market of the United States.

Big Companies Assume Future CO2 Emissions Price to Cut Costs and Risks in Planning