Climate Change Policy
The debate about climate change has shifted from science to public policy. PPL, as a major energy producer, recognizes a responsibility to address climate change in a reasoned and informed way — a way that works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining a strong economy, reducing dependence on foreign energy sources and providing reliable electricity supply and infrastructure.
Reducing greenhouse gas concentration levels requires a global effort, particularly as large developing countries rapidly increase their emissions. It also requires development of new technologies and regulatory framework for capturing and sequestering greenhouse gas emissions from stationary and mobile sources.
PPL believes:
- A national greenhouse gas reduction program should employ the concept of slowing, stopping and eventually reducing the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
- The United States should pursue a unified response to climate change to avoid a patchwork of inefficient and potentially conflicting state or regional programs.
- A climate change program should give credit for all means of avoiding, reducing, offsetting or sequestering greenhouse gas emissions. It also should promote energy conservation, improved energy efficiencies, and nuclear and renewable energy, which do not emit greenhouse gases.
Consistent with these beliefs, PPL is engaged in efforts to develop effective and balanced (economic growth and greenhouse reductions) national climate change legislation that considers the following elements:
- Economywide reductions — Legislation should include all greenhouse gases and all sectors of the economy that emit greenhouse gases.
- Point of regulation — The point of regulation should be as far upstream as possible to cover all sectors of the economy while representing a manageable number of regulated entities.
- Cap and trade program — A market-based system of greenhouse gas emission allowances would provide an effective means of meeting obligations. The system should allow banking of early action credits and provisions for eventual trading of allowances on an international basis.
- Baseline cap — Legislation should include a baseline cap for greenhouse gas emissions based on a recent average of yearly emission levels.
- Timeline — Emission reduction targets should change gradually, taking into account the availability, development and deployment of new technologies.
- Allocations — Emission allowances should be allocated to each sector of the economy in proportion to its contribution to total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, using the established baseline. Allowance auctions and set-asides should be limited but sufficient to support research, development and deployment of greenhouse gas capture, sequester and reducing technologies.
- Offsets — Credit should be given for all verifiable greenhouse gas emission offsets and sequestration.
- Safety valve — The maximum allowance price should be set at a level to guarantee market viability, avoid undue harm to the economy, and be sufficient to set market signals and fund research, development and deployment of new clean energy technologies.
- Technology development and deployment — Federal funding of new carbon dioxide capture and storage technology should be expanded along with ways to reduce emissions from other greenhouse gas sources. In addition, proceeds from auctions of emissions allowances should be used solely to fund clean energy research, development and deployment.
Also see Climate Change Actions >>
This page addresses the following GRI indicators: EN17 and EN30