GET AHEAD OF THE WAVE

When recalcitrant holdouts like President Bush and the chairman of Exxon-Mobil suddenly concede that climate change is real, you can be sure of one thing: A political consensus of some kind cannot be far away. Some companies want to get ahead of that–and even influence it. At least that's the kind of thinking that recently led 10 major U.S. corporations to join with green lobbyists Environmental Defense to push for passage of a national cap on greenhouse emissions. The goal of the group, called U.S. Cap, is to cut domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 60% to 80% from current levels by 2050.

The companies–Alcoa, BP America, Caterpillar, Duke Energy, DuPont, Florida Power & Light, GE, Lehman Brothers, PG&E and PNM–are also pledging to cut their own emissions, regardless of national policy. A spokeswoman at E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. says the Delaware-based chemical manufacturer embarked on a plan to cut greenhouse emissions 17 years ago and has already reduced its carbon emissions globally by 72% from 1990 levels at a savings in energy costs of $3 billion. The company beat its deadline by three years and exceeded its goal by 7%. Now, it is aiming for another 7% by 2010.