On February 14, 2002, President Bush announced a goal to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity -- the ratio of emissions to economic output by American industry -- by 18% over the next 10 years without sacrificing economic growth. Achieving this aim will require a combination of short-, medium-, and long-term actions. Initially, the Administration has adopted policies to encourage industry to take voluntary actions using available, cost-effective technologies and best practices to reduce GHG emissions intensity; these actions will put the nation on the path of slowing emissions growth. The Administration’s plans also include a major joint effort by industry and government to develop advanced technologies, commercialize them, and use them commercially across the economy to increase energy efficiency and reduce, avoid, or sequester GHG emissions.

Climate VISION -- Voluntary Innovative Sector Initiatives: Opportunities Now -- is a Presidential public-private partnership initiative launched by the Department of Energy on February 12, 2003, to contribute to the President’s goal of reducing GHG intensity. Other agencies participating in Climate VISION include the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation, Department of Agriculture, and Department of the Interior.

Initially, the focus of the initiative is on energy-intensive industries. Already, business associations representing 12 industry sectors and the Business Roundtable have become program partners with the federal government and have issued letters of intent to meet specific targets for reducing GHG emissions intensity. These Climate VISION partners, which include some of the largest companies in America, represent a broad range of industry sectors: oil and gas production, transportation, and refining; electricity generation; coal and mineral production and mining; manufacturing (automobiles, cement, iron and steel, magnesium, aluminum, chemicals, and semiconductors); railroads; and forestry products.

Working with these trade associations and other groups, the program assists industry efforts to accelerate the transition to practices, improved processes, and energy technologies that are cost-effective, cleaner, more efficient, and more capable of reducing, capturing, or sequestering GHGs. Climate VISION links these objectives with technology development, commercialization, and commercial utilization activities supported by the private sector and the government.

The industry trade groups are implementing commitments in their letters of intent in support of the President’s national goal with the support of agencies participating in the Climate VISION program. The adoption of advanced practices, processes, and technologies can reduce GHG emissions in a cost-effective manner, especially in energy-intensive industrial sectors. The program helps these groups and their members:

• Identify and implement solutions for reducing GHG emissions that are cost-effective today;
• Develop and utilize the tools to calculate, inventory, and report GHG emissions reduction, avoidance, and sequestration;
• Develop strategies to speed the development and commercial adoption of advanced technologies;
• Develop strategies across the commercial and residential sectors to help energy consumers reduce GHG emissions; and
• Recognize voluntary mitigation actions.

Participating industries are working in partnership with government Climate VISION experts to develop work plans that integrate GHG management into business plans and decisions. DOE and the other participating agencies provide a broad range of technical assistance, including plant-wide assessments, industrial assessment centers, standardization of software tools that identify opportunities for greater energy efficiency and consistency in calculating emissions, and training and information.

The concept of a technology continuum is a unifying model for accelerating the transition to cleaner, more efficient, and more diverse energy and industrial practices for industry and consumers. Some advanced technologies are available today, some will be commercially available soon, and some will not be available for many years.