Exelon’s John Rowe: Climate bill’s emissions targets are ‘overly aggressive’

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Exelon Corp. Chief Executive John Rowe said climate-change legislation being considered in Congress is “overly aggressive” on targets for cutting emissions and should do more to support nuclear power.

Rowe, head of the largest utility owner by market value, also told lawmakers on a Senate panel that the measure is a “very good beginning.” He called on Congress to “redouble” efforts to pass legislation to reduce global warming pollution and protect the economy.

“The longer we wait to start, the more expensive and more difficult it will be for our economy and our citizens to deal with the problem,” Rowe said.

Legislation being debated in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee aims to shift the U.S. to a more clean-energy economy by limiting global-warming pollution from power plants, factories and other large sources of greenhouse gas emissions. The bill would create a market for companies to buy and sell a limited number of pollution credits.

The proposal by Democrats John Kerry of Massachusetts and the panel’s chairwoman, Barbara Boxer of California, calls for a 20% reduction from 2005 greenhouse gas levels by 2020. The House in June approved a measure calling for a 17% cut.

Rowe said a 14% reduction target by 2020 “is much more appropriate and achievable” because more time is needed to develop and deploy new technology to cut emissions.

Boxer said she wants the committee to start amending the bill next week before a final vote.

Republicans including Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio say further action should be delayed until a more complete economic analysis is conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The panel’s ranking Republican, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, has threatened procedural moves to block the bill from gaining a committee vote.

“This chairman is not going to waste taxpayer money to delay a bill that does not need to be delayed,” Boxer said. “We’re going forward.”

Boxer told reporters after the hearing she’s confident she has the votes to pass the measure. Democrats have a 12-7 majority on the panel.

Rowe said that while the Kerry-Boxer plan includes “laudatory language” about the role of nuclear power in clean energy, he’s concerned that it “does little to actually facilitate the large-scale deployment of new plants” needed to significantly reduce emissions.

Preston Chiaro, head of London-based mining company Rio Tinto Group’s energy unit, said government incentives for faster development of low-emission technology, including nuclear power, will be critical.

President Obama and Democrats in Congress say climate legislation will cut pollution and spark billions of dollars in private investment in clean energy development and job creation.

Most Republicans and some Democrats have expressed concerns, saying the measure would raise energy costs for businesses and consumers and harm the economy.

Mike Carey, president of the Ohio Coal Assn., said the bill would eliminate high-paying coal-mining jobs that are critical to local economies.

“We believe that the Kerry-Boxer bill will kill our jobs and devastate our communities,” he said.

Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the measure would raise costs for farmers and ranchers that would lead to higher food prices for consumers.

The legislation faces a difficult path in the Senate, where Democrats are divided by regional and philosophical differences. Committee Democrats Max Baucus of Montana and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania have raised concerns about the bill’s potential effect on their coal-producing states.

Baucus said he told reporters the proposed 20% cut is one of “several provisions that we’re talking about” in negotiations with Boxer. He said he prefers a lower target.

Boxer told reporters the percentage is unlikely to change before the environment committee votes. “I don’t see a reason why I would change that,” she said.

-- Bloomberg News