Carbon Tax Looming, Big Business Gets Ready to Pay Up

First came news that 90 companies are to blame for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions. Now, more than two dozen big US corporations are planning for a future that involves paying for their pollution. A survey by green-data firm CDP shows that 29 companies, including Exxon, Chevron, and Walmart, are factoring a carbon-emission price into their long-term financial plans, reports the New York Times. The move suggests they'd be more likely to support policies designed to ease climate change. "Companies see that the trend [of cutting emissions] is inevitable," says a CDP exec. "What you see here is a hardening of that understanding."

A rep for ExxonMobil sounds a similar note: "Ultimately, we think the government will take action through a myriad of policies that will raise the prices and reduce demand" of fossil fuels, he says. ExxonMobil is planning for a price of $60 per metric ton by 2030, with BP at $46, and others lower, the Huffington Post reports. "ExxonMobil and many other large companies understand that climate change poses a direct economic threat to their businesses," says the director for climate change at the Center for American Progress. "They need to convince their political allies to act before it's too late." (More global warming stories.)