'A Certain Kind of Hell'

...Is how Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric, described current U.S. energy policy. (WSJ, subscription required).

Indeed, with skyrocketing oil prices, a need for greater investment in new energy technologies and inadequate diversification of our own energy supply mix is on the minds of many industry leaders.

Yet Immelt and other Business Roundtable members are taking action and looking for a seat at the table as Congress is likely to address global climate change after Memorial Day.

This is not unfamiliar territory for our CEOs who have been advocating for effective action on this pressing issue.

Now, additional Business Roundtable member CEOs, such as Alexander Cutler of Eaton Corp., and Robert Lane of Deere & Co., are supporting action on climate change in a new advertisement.

What will be the ultimate shakeout of the climate bill? Your guess is as good as mine. However, as Immelt notes--correctly--if business has no voice during the upcoming debate, "that's the worst of all worlds." Perhaps another "certain kind of hell," too.