Jeff Bell, Sacramento Business Journal

One of the nation's more influential business groups is calling on Congress to focus on the development of renewable and traditional energy sources while shaping a policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A new report Wednesday from the Business Roundtable cites the need to protect the nation's energy security and economic growth while reducing emissions of greenhouse gases thought to contribute to global warming.

The report calls for federal policy-makers to find ways to enhance energy efficiency in homes and commercial buildings, maintain coal's long-term viability as an energy source, expand nuclear power, modernize the U.S. electric grid and enhance domestic oil and natural gas production.

"We're big believers in this multiple approach," American Electric Power Co. Inc. CEO Michael Morris, who is chairman of the Business Roundtables's Sustainable Growth Initiative. "All energy resources need to be on the table."

Without such a far-reaching approach, the nation will come up short of meeting the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That is the case, Morris said, because renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power cannot be brought online quickly enough to meet the country's energy needs.

His comments came during a teleconference with reporters that Morris hosted with Business Roundtable president John Castellani. The Roundtable is an association of CEOs of large U.S. companies that collectively employ 12 million and generate more than $5 trillion in annual revenue.

Castellani said Business Roundtable is the first broad-based business organization to recognize the challenges presented by greenhouse gas emissions and introduce a plan to address the issue. It is pushing for federal legislation that will transform the way established U.S. energy sources, including coal and nuclear power, are used as new ones are explored and to protect the nation's economy during the transition period.

AEP and Morris in particular have been active in the debate on how the country should address greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide produced by coal-burning power plants.

AEP supports the federal Waxman-Markey bill that proposes a cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions. In such an approach, the federal government would set caps on carbon emissions, requiring companies to install cleaner technologies or buy credits if they continue to exceed the caps.

Morris said some Business Roundtable members favor a carbon tax instead of cap and trade, but he said those are side issues that should not cloud the big picture on greenhouse gas emissions.

"We need to do something about global warming," Morris said, "but we're a bit open to the approach on it. Some support cap and trade. Some support a carbon tax. Let's get on with it."

Despite questions from reporters, Morris and Castellani steered clear of the controversy over the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's position on climate change legislation.

U.S. Chamber CEO Thomas Donohue has said the chamber opposes the Waxman-Markey bill because it is "neither comprehensive nor international, and it falls short on moving renewable and alternative technologies into the marketplace and enabling our transition to a lower carbon future."

Donohue has also said the chamber opposes the bill because it would impose carbon tariffs on goods imported into the United States, calling it "a move that would almost certainly spur retaliation from global trading partners."

The chamber's stand has drawn fire from some of its more prominent members, including Apple Inc. and Nike Inc., for failing to recognize their conflicting opinions on the climate change issue. Apple quit the chamber over the issue.

Morris said the U.S. Chamber can speak for itself on the issue, while Castellani said the Business Roundtable's members are CEOs from large companies while the chamber has a broader base of large, medium-size and small companies.