AEP and Other Large Corporations Call on Congress to Support Sustainable Energy and Climate Policy

The Business Roundtable, an organization of CEOs from the largest companies in the US, has published a report calling on Congress to focus on the development of renewable and traditional energy sources while also developing a policy to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.   

The Business Roundtable wants federal policy makers to find ways to enhance energy efficiency in both residential and commercial buildings, maintain coal’s long-term viability as an energy source, expand nuclear power capabilities, modernize the US electric grid and enhance domestic oil and gas production. 

This multi-faceted approach that includes both traditional and renewable energy resources is necessary because renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power cannot be brought online quickly enough to meet the country’s energy needs.  These steps are seen as critical to maintaining the nation’s energy security and economic growth.  

AEP’s CEO Michael Morris serves as chairman of the Business Roundtable’s Sustainable Growth Initiative.  He says that AEP supports such a multiple resource approach.  He along with others agree that without such a far-reaching strategy that takes into account all resources of energy,  the nation will come up short of meeting its goal for reducing greenhouse gasses.   

According to Morris, regardless of what impact the report has in Congress, Business Roundtable companies will continue to move forward on developing renewable and traditional energy sources, while looking for ways to reduce greenhouse gasses. AEP, as an example, is ready to employ technology that will capture carbon emissions from its coal-burning power plant in New Haven, W.Va., and bury them underground. The company is also investing in wind and solar projects to meet new renewable energy standards in Ohio.   

For more on the Business Roundtable and its Report to Congress called Unfinished Business: The Missing Elements of a Sustainable Energy and Climate Policy, see the story in Business First.