July 30, 2008 - A top executive at General Electric told Congress this week that the best way to beat climate change is to assign a dollar value to carbon emissions, Reuters reports.

Speaking at a U.S. congressional panel Monday, GE vice chairman John Rice argued that market pricing for carbon emissions, along with government tax credits, will encourage new investments in emerging low-carbon technologies.

"A lot of times we get questions like, 'Is this possible, can it be done?'" Rice said. "Carbon capture and sequestration can be done today, it's technically viable. Is it commercially viable? Not yet ... We have to be thinking in terms of both technical viability and commercial viability."

GE has a lot to gain from goosing the alternative-energy market. The company's $20 billion Ecomagination program, aimed at developing new environmental products and services, is fast turning into one of its biggest moneymakers. Revenues from the Ecomagination portfolio crossed $14 billion in May and are expected to pass $25 billion by 2010.