Why engine-maker Cummins is lobbying President Biden for new climate legislation
I spoke yesterday with Cummins CEO Tom Linebarger, who is one of a growing number of CEOs who have moved to the vanguard of efforts to combat climate change. He went to the White House last month to argue that the portions of President Biden’s Build Back Better Act that address climate be enacted into law.
For Cummins, which makes engines, it’s also a business imperative. The company is investing heavily in developing hydrogen fuel cell technology, even though Linebarger believes the market place for that technology is still a decade or so away from being competitive without subsidies or regulation.
“Hydrogen as a fuel has moved from a super cool idea to the development stage. We are running trains in Europe with hydrogen fuel cell engines,” he told me. “We would love to get the cost down, as would our customers. We don’t need invention, but we do need development and refinement. The cost is not viable without subsidy or regulation today.”
Read more here.