HARTFORD, Conn. — General Electric Co.
plans to unveil a major initiative aimed at more than doubling its research
investment in environmental technology in five years, the Wall Street Journal
reported on its Web site Sunday.
The plan calls for doubling sales of technology products that reduce greenhouse
gases and conserve water, the newspaper said.
GE Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt is expected to be in Washington
Monday to deliver a speech pressuring the energy industry to develop policies to
address carbon dioxide emissions.
Sources familiar with the plan told the newspaper the company is trying to
reduce greenhouse-emitting gases such as carbon dioxide in its own operations
and increase energy efficiency. It plans to do so by switching fuel sources and
possibly powering a facility through wind power, the report said.
The Fairfield-based company has a troubled environmental past. Two plants
discharged 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls into the Hudson River
before the substance was banned by the government in 1977. The company is in
discussions with the Environmental Protection Agency about the best way to
dredge the river.
Source: Associated Press/Information from The Wall Street Journal