Obama: Clean energy is good for business, not just 'tree-huggers'

WASHINGTON — The White House is enlisting Fortune 500 CEOs in its attempts to reach a breakthrough agreement on climate change, announcing agreements with 68 more companies committed to reducing their greenhouse gasses ahead of international talks in Paris.

The CEOs are among the 81 major companies that have now made specific commitments on climate. But just as important for President Obama, they're also putting a business-friendly face on his clean energy initiatives.

"Historically, when you start talking about an issue like climate change, the perception is that this is an environmental issue. It's for tree huggers, and that hard-headed business people either don't care about it or see it as a conflict with their bottom lines," Obama said after the meeting. "But for these companies, they’re discovering that they can enhance their bottom lines."

President Obama met Monday with the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson, Intel, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Hershey's and Pacific Gas & Electric — and with some of the smaller companies that supply them. The White House expects that the commitments made by the 81 big companies will trickle down through their supply chains, encouraging energy efficient practices throughout the economy.

"This effort to push companies through their supply chains is significant," said Brian Deese, the White House point man on climate change. "When a large company sets certain goals, it can spur action across the supply chain though the adoption of clean energy and emissions reductions."

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With 68 new commitments announced Monday, a total of 81 companies have now signed on to the "Act on Climate" pledge, a part of a White House effort to bring a strong negotiating hand to the international climate talks in Paris next month. The companies are promising to support the Paris talks — and the countries that are involved in them — and to take specific steps to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Obama aims to reduce a different class of greenhouse gases: hydrofluorocarbons

Nike pledged to use 100% renewable energy in all its facilities by 2025. Levi Strauss says it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25% and purchase 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. And consumer products maker Procter & Gamble will promote more cold-water detergents and produce all of its fabric care products in North America with 100% wind power.

Computer chip maker Intel, which is already the nation's largest consumer of clean energy, said it will triple its use of on-site renewable energy. "As Intel, we believe that global climate change is a serious economic and environmental challenge that warrants an equally serious response," said Todd Brady, Intel's global environmental director.

Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said environmental issues are really health care issues, with implications for respiratory disorders, asthma and infectious diseases. "Keeping health care in this discussion is very important," he said.

But there's also a business rationale for reducing carbon emissions: "More and more customers are demanding that the products they use come from clean and green sources,"