Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush has rejected imposing limits on carbon dioxide emissions, putting him at odds with a group of business and industry leaders who today urged him to target pollution linked to global warming.

Bush, in his State of the Union address tomorrow, will focus instead on promoting alternatives to fossil fuels, White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

``There's been some talk about, sort of, binding, economy- wide carbon caps in the speech, but they are not part of the president's proposal,'' Snow said in a briefing in Washington.

Snow's comments came on the same day executives of companies including General Electric Co., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Duke Energy Corp. put their support behind creation of a ``cap-and-trade'' system and setting a target of reducing so-called greenhouse gases by as much as 30 percent within 15 years.

While Bush has acknowledged the need to address climate change, the president has resisted mandating limits on carbon dioxide emissions, arguing it would be too costly. The executives supporting the caps said reducing pollution linked to global warming can be done without harming the economy and may present opportunities for growth.

`Convergence'

``There's a convergence between the science'' and ``what I would call a tapestry of regulatory activities going on,'' GE Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt said at a news conference in Washington today. There's an overall ``mood change that people want to see action taking place.''

Solutions to global warming ``will pose not only challenges but also a number of opportunities,'' Lehman Chief Executive Richard Fuld said

GE, the world's No. 2 company by market value, and New York- based Lehman, the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm by market value, are among 10 companies in the newly formed U.S. Climate Action Partnership.

The coalition's members also include Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest maker of earthmoving equipment, as well as electric utilities Duke Energy, with headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, San Francisco-based PG&E Corp., Juno Beach, Florida-based FPL Group Inc. and Albuquerque, New Mexico-based PNM Resources Inc.

Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont Co., the third-largest U.S. chemical maker, and New York-based Alcoa Inc., the world's biggest aluminum maker, also are part of the coalition. London- based BP Plc, Europe's second-largest oil company, is the one non-U.S. member.

Standards and Expectations

The companies say they want a standard on greenhouse gases so they know how to proceed with their long-term investments. They also argue that they will seek to profit by developing technologies to curb emissions and by participating in new market-based efforts to combat climate change.

Scientists say carbon dioxide spewed from cars, power plants and other human sources is causing average global temperatures to increase, leading to a rise in sea levels and erratic and extreme weather.

Leaders in the new Democratic-led Congress say legislation to deal with climate change will be a priority in coming months. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, announced last week the creation of a new committee that will focus solely on global warming.

Endorsement

Exelon Corp., the largest U.S. utility by market value, and five other U.S. power producers are part of another business group that has endorsed emissions cap legislation proposed by Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein of California and Tom Carper of Delaware. The group that includes GE and Lehman hasn't endorsed specific legislation.

``The objective of this partnership is to create an effective set of policies that result in a coordinated set of global solutions,'' Fuld said.

There are several other initiatives in the Senate to tackle global warming, including a measure introduced earlier this month that has the support of two potential presidential contenders --Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona and Democratic Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

Snow said Bush wants an approach driven by innovation.

``The president has always believed when it comes to climate change, that the best way to achieve reductions is through innovation and to figure out ways to come up with energy sources that are going meet our economy's constant demand for energy and at the same time in a way that's going to be friendly for the environment,'' Snow said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brendan Murray in Washington at brmurray@bloomberg.net; Kim Chipman in Washington at kchipman@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 22, 2007 16:42 EST