This post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.
The current issue of U.S. News and World Report has a special report on America’s Best Leaders. Among the sixteen individuals chosen was our own Fred Krupp, President of Environmental Defense. From the article:
“The signature achievement of Krupp’s philosophy came out of amendments to the Clean Air Act in the George H. W. Bush administration. While other groups pushed for rigid restrictions on sulfur dioxide, an agent of acid rain, Krupp argued for a unique cap-and-trade system that would permit utilities to swap pollution credits to help bring down their emissions as an aggregate. Utilities that found ways to reduce emissions could sell their credits, at a hefty price, to dirtier plants. Utilities favored the idea, which meant that among the green community, "Fred was taking some serious risks," recalls William Reilly, Bush’s EPA chief. Reilly made the deal in return for Environmental Defense’s support of the legislation. "That helped us in Congress and in the eyes of the public," Reilly says. The plan achieved reductions at one-tenth the estimated cost.
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Fittingly, Krupp’s work has framed the global warming debate. He played a key role in enlisting corporate support for government action. And because of the success of the acid-rain program, a cap-and-trade scheme for greenhouse gases is the basis for proposals in Congress to combat warming.”
This post is part of a series on the work of the Environmental Defense Action Fund to enact an effective climate law. You can help by writing to Congress.