The United States Climate Action Partnership has just released a report calling for mandatory greenhouse gas emission cap legislation and suggesting a specific set of mechanisms for achieving cuts in the near future. There are a number of noteworthy items in the report, but the most remarkable thing is who wrote this report.
The United States Climate Action Partnership (US-CAP) is a coalition of groups that includes both major corporations and major non-governmental organizations. On the corporate side, the group includes Alcoa, BP America, Caterpillar, Duke Energy, DuPont, FPL Group, General Electric, Lehman Brothers, PG&E, and PNM Resources. On the non-governmental organization side, members include Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and World Resources Institute. You don't see those two sets of groups on the same sides of environmental issues very often - hell, I can't remember ever seeing them on the same side before.
So why the new alliance? I'll get into that more a bit later, but what it comes down to is this: at this point, anyone with a brain who takes the time to look at the data can see that if things keep going as they have been, the planet is in big trouble - and it's the kind of big trouble that is Bad For Business. Say what you like about the CEOs of major industries, but they're not a group noted for lack of intellect. It is clear that caps are needed, and it is clear that they will happen someday. By moving on the issue now, businesses will gain the ability to know the rules that they will be playing under, and that will help them more in the long term.
Meanwhile, Bush is expected to continue to oppose mandatory action on greenhouse gasses. This could get interesting in a hurry.
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I think you are right. Businesses what some sort of market mechanisms to deal with climate change. GE are big on nuclear reactors. BP like to think that they are an energy company and not an oil company, so they don't try to keep the same stance towards climate change as some of the other oil companies. They and other industrial giants would likely be interested in a carbon trading scheme, since they could make money by selling products and processes that conserve energy.
Most other countries think tackling climate change will be good for business, or at least a challenge that must be met. Australia, Canada and US have had a different view of the problem: quaking in fear of it & trying to avoid it. I think that this is changing very, very quickly.