Green Effort Gets Energized

Earlier this month, ConocoPhillipsCOP became the first domestic oil company to join the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a corporate call-to-arms aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

It's surprising that two massive oil companies -- the U.K.'s BPBP being the other -- are signatories of USCAP.

But what's shocking is the first of 16 recommendations made by the partnership: The U.S. Congress "needs to enact legislation as quickly as possible" to cap emissions.

Generally, corporate America loathes having business decisions taken from the hands of the free market, especially those that could revolutionize the very nature of the economy.

That Conoco and BP, like other corporate behemoths including Alcoa AA, GE GE and DuPont DD, are actually begging the federal government for help is evidence of the complexity surrounding environmental issues.

"We recognize that human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, is contributing to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that can lead to adverse changes in global climate," said Jim Mulva, Conoco's CEO, in a press release announcing his company's plans.

All Going Green

Until recently, big business has insisted that emissions reductions be voluntary. What, then, converted these companies into believers in government intervention?

For one thing, companies are realizing they will be affected by some sort of emissions control no matter how much of a fuss they make. Under voluntary controls, little progress toward emissions reduction has been achieved, aside from a handful of hybrid cars cruising clogged highways, feeding on a cocktail of unleaded gasoline spruced with ethanol.

According to Peter Fusaro, president of Global Change Associates and a leading consultant on energy and environmental markets, Americans are finally beginning to pay attention to things like global warming, a pro-environment media barrage (including Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth), and ubiquitous military battles that always seem to wind through oil fields in the Middle East.

The pressure on businesses from consumers and shareholders is becoming acute, and the sentiment is passing through to the political sphere. On April 2, in a blow to the Bush administration's energy policy, the Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act. Climate change is also on a short list of key issues being addressed as the U.S. heads into next year's presidential election.

The other factor convincing companies to support federal activism is their fear of the unknown.