S&P 100 Carbon Chasm

The top companies in the U.S. will fail to meet President Barack Obama’s goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020, a new analysis found.

Based on data from 2007 to 2009, companies on Standard and Poor’s 100 index will not only miss the 2020 target, their absolute emissions will actually increase if trends continue. The gap is even greater between projected emissions and the deep cuts recommended by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

“These trends identified by CDP show business needs to take more active measures to reduce emissions, especially as the economy improves we can expect to see more significant increase in emissions,” said Paul Dickinson, CEO of the Carbon Disclosure Project, author of “S&P 100 Carbon Chasm.”