Earth Equity News

CEOs of Caterpillar and FedEx Support Carbon Tax. By David Whitten, Bloomberg, September 27, 2009. "The chief executives of Caterpillar and FedEx said they prefer a tax on carbon dioxide emissions and criticized the cap-and-trade measure being debated in Congress. The legislation approved by the House in June gives certain industries free pollution permits that would distort the market, said Fred Smith, CEO of FedEx, the package-shipping company based in Memphis, Tennessee. 'We very much believe that a straightforward graduated tax on carbon is better than the cap-and-trade,' Smith said in Washington today. He was among a group of executives who participated in an energy conference... 'A year ago carbon tax was dead because it had the word tax in it,' said George David, chairman of Hartford, Connecticut-based United Technologies Corp. It has been revived, 'in part because of some of the complexities and loopholes that have worked their way into the cap-and-trade legislation,' he said."