Companies have submitted Action Plans detailing more than 700 emissions reductions actions that they estimate will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 5 million metric tons of carbon equivalent by the year 2000. In the process they expect to save more than $300 million. Here are some examples of what they're doing:

General Motors reduced more than 54,500 metric tons of carbon per year by switching to natural gas at five steam-generating facilities. In addition, the first of 11 facility energy audits has identified procedural changes and projects saving 19% of total energy use.

DuPont estimates that its actions will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases equivalent to 18 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by the year 2000. DuPont's energy efficiency improvements include switching boiler fuels, improving steam balance, decreasing waste heat and optimizing system performance in aeration blowers. Energy efficiency actions saved the company $31 million in 1995 alone.

IBM estimates that their energy efficiency projects will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60,000 metric tons and save the company $5.5 million in the year 2000. Their actions include changes in process and facility design and improvements in energy metering and monitoring that will help them to better identify energy efficiency opportunities.

Motorola-Austin reduced annual carbon emissions by more than 4,740 metric tons per year and saved more than $1 million in 1996 alone by optimizing the performance of their boilers, insulating steam lines and repairing faulty insulation.

Lockheed Martin estimates that it will achieve annual cost savings of $175,000 and prevent the emission of 1,750 tons of carbon dioxide each year by committing to efficiency measures including boiler and process cooling efficiency, and the development of an energy automation program at facilities around country.

The Initiative also includes additional resources for research and development in key areas of energy-efficient technology. These R&D resources will allow EPA to accelerate its work under the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) to help develop cars and light trucks that get three times the fuel economy of current models, with comparable performance, safety, amenities, and cost. Working with industry and with DOE and other agencies, we will

also undertake a partnership to develop delivery and long-haul trucks that achieve significantly greater fuel economy while meeting stringent emissions targets.

The Initiative also includes $3.6 billion over five years in targeted tax cuts to help

businesses and consumers buy and adopt these technologies.

Tax credits for highly fuel efficient vehicles: This credit would be $4,000 for each vehicle
that gets three times the base fuel economy for its class beginning in 2003. A credit of
$3,000 would be available beginning in 2000 for vehicles that get double the base fuel
economy for its class. These credits would be available to jump start these markets and
would be phased out over time.

Tax credits for energy efficient equipment: These credits (all of which are subject to caps) would include a 20% credit for purchasing certain types of highly efficient building equipment, a 15% credit for the purchase of rooftop solar systems, and a 10% credit for the purchase of highly efficient combined heat and power systems.

Under the CCTI, EPA will expand its efforts in each sector of the economy in order to target the key opportunities for win-win emissions reductions that protect the environment while promoting economic growth. Key areas where EPA is expanding its efforts include the following:

1. Industry Initiatives -- the President has invited entire industries to work with the Federal government and develop greenhouse gas plans. In addition to its partnerships with individual companies, EPA will consult with key industries to develop voluntary but aggressive strategies for further greenhouse gas reductions that improve overall productivity and promote the deployment of clean technologies such as the use of industrial combined heat and power, and to build a program that appropriately rewards early action. EPA will seek dialogue with key stakeholders throughout industry and the NGO community.

2. Transportation Initiatives -- EPA will accelerate its efforts under the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), and will develop enabling technology for production

prototypes for delivery and long-haul trucks that would achieve significant increases in fuel economy while meeting stringent emissions targets. The National Academy of Sciences has determined that EPA's renewable fuels application for 4SDI engines is the lead PNGV candidate technology. When complete, EPA's design will provide the basis for a viable and proven concept vehicle for commercialization. It will also provide a strong technical base from which to initiate additional EPA research into similar technologies for light truck application. EPA will also expand its work with state and local decision-makers to develop and implement transportation improvements that encourage “livable communities” -- compact, walkable and mixed use development -- while reducing the growth in vehicle travel, emissions, and congestion.

3. Buildings Initiatives. The buildings sector, which includes both homes and commercial buildings, offers a large potential for carbon reductions using technologies that are on the shelf today. However, consumers and businesses continue to invest substantial resources in equipment that is relatively energy inefficient, resulting in higher energy bills and higher pollution levels. One of the key challenges over the next decade will be to overcome market barriers, such as the lack of reliable information, and improve the markets for energy-efficient products. EPA will expand its partnerships with equipment manufacturers and building owners in order to provide reliable, easily understood information to a greater segment of the residential and commercial markets. EPA will also expand its work to support other Federal agencies in improving the energy performance of their facilities.

4. Carbon Removal. EPA working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture will encourage the forest products sector to achieve greater reliance on biomass fuels as an energy source and be a supplier of carbon sequestration credits through afforestation and reforestation

activities EPA will accelerate efforts to promote the use of livestock based fertilizer products

and more efficient use of nutrients from all sources.

5. Crosscutting Analysis and Approaches. To build support for and the institutional capacity needed to implement a domestic and international carbon emissions trading program, EPA will work with developing nations and states and localities. Emissions from developing countries are growing rapidly and are projected to exceed those of developed countries within the next forty years. An effective, efficient global solution to climate change must be market-based and must involve both developed and developing countries. The Administration and EPA will work to secure additional international support for the American vision of global climate protection reflected in the Kyoto Protocol by assisting key developing countries in their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address global climate change. EPA will also expand its work with states, which are key players, in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. EPA will provide support to states to help develop emission inventories and voluntary action plans, and implement and expand promising policy options identified by states in the greenhouse gas mitigation plans.

While these actions are justified on the economics and their contribution to climate change, they also help the environment in other ways. Fossil fuel combustion is not only the major source of US greenhouse gas emissions, but also of conventional air pollutants (e.g., particulate matter, oxides of nitrogen, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, etc.). A vast, peer-reviewed scientific literature has conclusively linked U.S. air pollution with heightened risks of mortality, chronic bronchitis, congestive heart failure, ischemic heart disease, and other serious illnesses. Children and the elderly are the most vulnerable to the effects of poor air

quality Thus, if we take these measures to combat global climate change, we will also reap immediate public health benefits in the form of cleaner air and cleaner water. Let me give you

some examples:

The Lancet, a highly respected British medical journal, recently published a peer-reviewed study of the particulate matter-related health impacts of fairly aggressive, worldwide greenhouse gas mitigation. The analysis found that an estimated 8 million deaths globally due to exposure to fine particles could be avoided between 2000 and 2020 if substantial steps were taken to limit greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels. In the United States alone, the study reports that thousands of deaths annually could be avoided during the 2000-2020 period. EPA's recently promulgated fine particulate standard begins to address this public health concern and should result in both some reductions in greenhouse gas emissions along with reducing the number of deaths associated with exposure to fine particles.

In addition to health benefits, greenhouse gas mitigation would lead to improved visibility, more and better recreational opportunities, and reduced nitrogen deposition in vulnerable water bodies (such as the Chesapeake Bay). These benefits, however, have not yet been studied as thoroughly as the health impacts cited above.

In 1999, EPA's CCTI programs alone are expected to also reduce NOx emissions by 90,000 tons per year, improving both air and water quality.

The President's CCTI makes sense right now: it hedges our risk of climate change and

puts us on the right path should the science dictate more rapid reductions would be required in the future, it saves businesses and consumers money, and it reduces other dangerous forms of

pollution.

In closing, I think it's clear that the Administration is delivering on its commitment to an environmentally sound and economically sensible approach. We are closely monitoring the science to make sure that our actions are proportionate to the risks we face. Internationally, we successfully negotiated a definitively American blueprint for the global response to climate

change: targets and timetables, national flexibility, market-based approaches and developing