GLOBAL CLIMATE DEBATE

BP, ConocoPhillips, Caterpillar Leave USCAP

Two oil and gas majors are leaving the high-profile U.S. Climate Action Partnership - the coalition of business and environmental CEOs that produced a blueprint used to draft the Waxman-Markey climate bill.

BP America and ConocoPhillips are leaving the group, saying climate legislation pending in Congress unfairly favors coal over natural gas and would drive their refinery business overseas.

Both companies feel compromises give coal burners nearly all of their needed allowances for free, reducing incentives to switch to lower-emitting natural gas.

And they say oil refineries get few of their allowances free , so they are disadvantaged in international competition.

"In our view, [USCAP] has accomplished what we hoped it would when we joined and that was create a framework for legislation blueprint in congress," Ronnie Chappell of BP America told Clean Skies News. "But we don't think the bills that are pending in the congress now conform to the blueprint and think we can be more effective as BP, as the corporation."

Caterpillar also dropped out of CAP yesterday and, like the two oil companies, the equipment maker says it can pursue climate goals better alone - and cited its recent decision to join the FutureGen clean coal project.

"The [FutureGen] alliance will strengthen industry and government knowledge of advanced technology for producing low-carbon coal-fired electricity generation, by demonstrating carbon capture and sequestration techniques," Kate Kenny of Caterpillar said. "Demonstrating these technologies will help the U.S.and the rest of the world generate competitive energy supplies in a more sustainable manner."

All three companies stressed they still support comprehensive climate legislation that puts a fair price on carbon.