The decisions made in the next year or two on climate policy may well change the way we produce and use energy for decades to come. As the largest coal-burning electric utility in the Western Hemisphere, AEP must lead the way. We respect that some of our stakeholders disagree with us on fundamental climate policy issues, such as emission reduction targets and allowance allocations, and that they feel we should have been more aggressive addressing those issues. We believe it is time to focus on narrowing our differences, emphasizing areas of commonality and moving forward. In that spirit, this section discloses AEP’s views on the full range of issues related to climate change.

AEP Chairman Mike Morris provides clarity around AEP's position on climate legislation.

"It’s important for AEP, like other corporations, to deploy life cycle assessment in making decisions about fuel mix. For too long, corporate America has externalized the costs of air pollution, public health and ecosystem services. We now add to that list the current difficult but critical issue of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. When the cost of all of those things is internalized into the cost of electricity, we will have a very different view of the comparison between coal and wind, for example, or maybe coal and photovoltaics. We can’t depend on prices that are low for us now at the expense of the health and well-being of future generations."

Nick Brown, Ph.D., executive assistant for sustainability, University of Arkansas and AEP stakeholder

Also see: Climate Change & The Environment in the Environmental Activities section.