NEW ORLEANS, May 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Entergy Corporation Chairman and CEO J. Wayne Leonard today issued a statement in response to U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu's announcement that $2.4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used to expand and accelerate the commercial deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Leonard, an early and leading industry advocate of comprehensive climate change legislation, issued the following statement:
"To address climate change successfully, we have to make sure the developing world participates; therefore it is essential that we develop technology to capture CO2 from conventional coal plants and to sequester it. This is needed so that the U.S. can continue to rely on its own existing fleet - and even more importantly, so that we have a CO2 solution for the growing fleet outside the U.S. Even if we were to zero out the greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. electric sector by 2025, worldwide emissions would continue to grow if the developing world continues on its current path.
"Carbon-capture technology, much more than solar or wind power or other renewable forms of energy generation, is this country's most important potential green technology for export. And the fastest way to develop it is to create a market for it here in the U.S. by establishing a cap-and-trade program that puts a price on CO2 emissions, and investing private and taxpayer money in research on carbon capture and storage.
"I applaud the Administration's recognition that carbon capture and storage is an essential part of addressing climate change."
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $13 billion and approximately 14,700 employees.
Entergy's online address is entergy.com
Entergy Corporation
CONTACT: Chanel Lagarde of Entergy Corporation, +1-504-576-4238,
clagar1@entergy.com
Web Site: http://www.entergy.com/
