Southern Co. CEO David Ratcliffe is on his way to Washington D.C. to represent the power company’s point of view on the proposed Waxman-Markey bill on energy and climate change.
Starting today, there will be four days of hearings on the draft 648-page bill. The bill is far-reaching and would begin to frame a program on a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
In the past, Ratcliffe has voiced his opposition to the establishment of carbon fees as a way to reduce emissions.
Ratcliffe was the keynote speaker this morning at a breakfast meeting of the Center for Ethics and Corporate Responsibility, which is part of Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business.
In response to a question, Ratcliffe said all the stakeholders are trying to work through the legislative process, but it’s all a question of balance.
Ratcliffe mentioned that all the stakeholders have a desire to have reliable energy, a desire to create a cleaner environmental footprint and a desire for affordable energy.
“The people who make policy decisions must find a way to balance all of those,” Ratcliffe said. “These are complicated issues — climate change, reliability. All us need to understand the implications.”
Ratcliffe did say that the nation and the world is moving in a direction to try to find a balance between being environmentally responsible and providing reliable and affordable energy.
“We have already moved significantly in that regard,” Ratcliffe said.
