Chamber of Commerce

During the recent GOP boycott of climate bill talks in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent committee members a letter stating its view of acceptable and unacceptable policies for climate change legislation.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) characterized this letter as a potential "Nixon to China moment", a possible breakthrough from the Chamber's hard-line opposition to real climate change legislation. After all, it was only a few months earlier that the Chamber filed a petition for a trial on climate change science, with one executive calling it a modern day "Scopes monkey trial."

The Chamber's line in the sand was stated in the letter:

"The Chamber will continue to oppose bad policies that resemble the failed climate proposals of the past, such as bills that jeopardize American jobs, create trade inequalities, leave open the Clean Air Act, open the door to CO2-based mass tort litigation, and further hamper the permitting process for clean energy."

The group has provided a few clues over the past few months as to what it means by the phrase, "open the door to CO2-based mass tort litigation." Those clues can help decipher whether the Chamber is actually open to climate action or deems the science a frivolous figment.

Nike, under pressure from shareholders, became the fourth company in the span of a week to pull away from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the business group's opposition to federal climate action and its call for a "Scopes Monkey Trial" on climate science.

The sportswear giant announced this morning that it was resigning from the Chamber's board of directors, though it plans to retain its U.S. Chamber of Commerce membership so it can continue "to advocate for climate change legislation."

"Nike believes U.S. businesses must advocate for aggressive climate change legislation and that the United States needs to move rapidly into a sustainable economy to remain competitive and ensure continued economic growth," the company wrote.

"As we've stated, we fundamentally disagree with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the issue of climate change, and their recent action challenging the EPA is inconsistent with our view that climate change is an issue in need of urgent action."

Nike's positions on federal climate action contrast sharply with those of Chamber executives, who have questioned the very science of global warming in their efforts to block greenhouse gas regulation by the EPA — regulations could change how high-emitting industries do business. Even in backpedaling from his Scopes Monkey Trial comment, Chamber Vice President Bill Kovacs continued to argue that there was no proof that global warming threatens public health and welfare.

Chamber President Thomas J. Donohue tried to clarify the group's position again yesterday

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is beginning to bleed members over its staunch opposition to climate legislation intended to reduce the nation's global warming emissions.

John Rowe, CEO of one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, announced the group's latest loss today: Exelon, a $19 billion company with 5.4 million electricity customers, will not renew its membership in the once-essential business group.

Exelon was the third utility in a week to announce it was leaving the Chamber, and one of a growing number of companies urging the business group's executives to change their tune on climate action. Another member, Nike, is under pressure from shareholders, who will be urging the company in a letter tomorrow to also dump the Chamber.

Rowe explained his support for climate legislation while announcing his company's intentions to leave the Chamber during the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy national conference this morning:

“The carbon-based free lunch is over," the Exelon CEO said. "But while we can’t fix our climate problems for free, the price signal sent through a cap-and-trade system will drive low-carbon investments in the most inexpensive and efficient way possible.”

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