GENTLE PERSUASION

HEADNOTE

WHILE A CONSERVATIVE PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION ESCHEWS MANDATORY CO2 CUTS, MANUFACTURERS MOVE AHEAD WITH REDUCTIONS IN RESPONSE TO CUSTOMER AND SHAREHOLDER RELATIONS AND LIABILITY CONCERNS.

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S

POSITION ON REGULATING CARBON dioxide (CO2) emissions is crystal clear: hands off. In evidence is the United States' refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which would have imposed mandatory reductions of the nation's CO2 emissions. Coupled with that is recent passage of a national energy bill that contained no caps on what has been identified as the greenhouse gas most responsible for global warming, an admittedly controversial subject.

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Yet many manufacturers that operate in the United States are voluntarily reducing their CO2 emissions. They point to a wealth of good business and environmental stewardship as reasons to do so, even absent federal regulation.