Washington (Platts)--7Feb2008

Whomever is elected US president later this year will support a national
greenhouse gas emissions cap since the remaining opponent of the policy,
Republican candidate Mitt Romney, suspended his White House bid Thursday.

The former Massachusetts governor has had a platform of voluntary
emissions reduction, much like President Bush.

The remaining Republicans in the race -- Senator John McCain of Arizona
and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee -- both have said they would
support an emissions cap-and-trade system.

McCain has long been on the front lines of the climate debate,
introducing comprehensive climate legislation in every Congress since 2003.

McCain's position involves giving industry free allowances early in the
carbon market's early years and moving toward a full auction many years later.
Much of his proposal is reflected in a Senate bill set for a vote within the
coming months.

Huckabee, who trails McCain substantially in the delegate count for the
Republican nomination, has said he supports a cap-and-trade system, but has
not put forward any further proposals.

The remaining Democrats in the race -- Senators Hillary Clinton of New
York and Barack Obama of Illinois -- both have cosponsored the most stringent
carbon cap bill in the Senate. They also want an 80% reduction in emissions
from 1990 levels by 2050 as well as an auction of emission allowances to large
emitters.

One area where the leading candidates differ is on nuclear power --
McCain strongly advocates it, while Obama has expressed tepid support and
Clinton mainly is opposed to building new nuclear plants.

Environmentalists, as expected, were pleased with the news Romney
suspended his campaign. "The prospects for action on global warming and
climate in the next Congress are now a lot more promising," said Frank
O'Donnell, president of the advocacy group Clean Air Watch.

Romney has received sharp criticism since pulling Massachusetts out of a
regional carbon trading scheme three years ago that he originally supported.

Clear Air Watch's O'Donnell wondered, however, if climate would be even
less of an issue on the campaign trail. "The concern is it may be less of an
issue because they all agree," he said.

--Alexander Duncan, alexander_duncan@platts.com