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U.S. Chamber faces pressure to change its climate stance
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Numerous businesses begin leaving organizations fighting against climate change legislation.
It appears as though the U.S. Chamber of commerce has 'gone rogue' regarding energy reform. A third large utility company has announced plans to quit the organization over its stance on climate change.
There seems to be a groundswell of business support for climate change mitigation that is mounting, which just might render the Chamber impotent on representing its members effectively in the future. Of course, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce could change its stance on climate change and stave off a mass exodus from its ranks, but the leadership there has given no signs of acknowledging the complaints from some of its members forcing them to quit the organization altogether.
The latest utility to quit the U.S. Chamber was Exelon, the largest operator of U.S. nuclear power plants. Exelon Corporation is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities with approximately $19 billion in annual revenues. They distribute electricity to approximately 5.4 million customers in Illinois and Pennsylvania, and gas to 485,000 customers in Philadelphia.
Exelon is the latest in a string of utilities announcing plans to distance themselves from the Chambers tactics to stall climate change legislation and prevent emission regulations. According to NYT, "Pacific Gas & Electric announced plans to leave the Chamber already. PNM Resources, a New Mexico utility holding company, did the same shortly thereafter".
PNM Resources stated their reasons for leaving were based upon the Chamber's opposition to climate change and energy reform. PNM referred to climate change as "the most pressing environmental and economic issue of our time". Similarly, PG&E stated that "We find it dismaying that the Chamber neglects the indisputable fact that a decisive majority of experts have said the data on global warming are compelling and point to a threat that cannot be ignored". Exelon announced its departure from the Chamber, stating its oppostion to climate change as the source, adding "The carbon-based free lunch is over. Breakthroughs on climate change and improving our society’s energy efficiency are within reach".
It appears as though the Chamber's opposition to climate change in such public ways, such as the introduction of their 'climate change trials', threatened lawsuits against the EPA to hinder regulation, and other delaying tactics is backfiring. The Natural Resource Defense Council stated, "The U.S. Chamber is in real trouble on this. It cannot claim to be the voice of U.S. businesses and oppose reasonable climate policies when its own members are jumping ship and publicly criticizing the course the Chamber has chosen". (NYT)
Initial assessments of the recent exodus from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, climate activists claim, is a sign that opposition within the business community toward energy reform is weakening. While some CEO's have taken a more active role securing their triple-bottom-lines (social, environmental, and financial), the truth is probably less altruistic.
According to WSJ and the NYT, pressure from investors to take action on climate change as well as the reality that some utilities stand to benefit financially from a transition to a low-carbon economy is probably driving the shifts in alliances. In the case of Exelon, the WSJ argues that "For a company such as Exelon, which is heavy on nuclear power, climate legislation makes sense because it would penalize 'dirty' electricity such as that generated by coal and reward low-emissions electricity, be that from nuclear power or renewable energy".
As for investors adding pressure for companies to take a stance on global warming legislation, Nike may be the next business to quit the Chamber. Green Century Capital Management, which invests $95 million in companies it considers environmentally responsible, has issued a letter "urging [Nike] to drop its membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce due to severe misalignment of Nike’s position and that of the Chamber on climate change".
Some businesses are taking offense to the Chamber's stance to represent only one side of this issue. According to POLITICO, "Johnson & Johnson has asked the Chamber to refrain from making comments on climate change unless they reflect the full range of views, especially those of Chamber members advocating for congressional action".
Powerful corporations taking a stance in favor of climate change legislation is not just limited to action against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Duke Energy recently quit both the American Coalition for Clean Coal Energy "over differences with influential member companies who will not support passing climate change legislation in 2009 or 2010". (DeSmogBlog) Duke Energy also recently quit the National Association of Manufacturers "over the organization’s opposition to a cap-and-trade approach to carbon legislation". (Charlotte Business Journal)
Alcoa, based in Pittsburgh and is the third largest producer of aluminum, and Alstrom, a French company that makes parts for power plants, have also left ACCCE. Is the clean coal lobbying group on the verge of implosion? Climate Progress thinks so.
The situation where businesses belong to conflicting groups on climate change is coming under question. For example, GE and Caterpillar belong to both ACCCE and the US Climate Action Partnership (USCAP); one fighting for climate change legislation and the other fighting against it. GE has said that it "is looking at our membership in ACCCE on a regular basis, and if it is not in the best interest of the shareholders for us to be a member, then we won't be a member".
The Chamber's and ACCCE's problems have happened in the past for the exact same reason, specifically with the Global Climate Coalition (GCC). GCC was formed back in 1989 and its mission was to oppose any immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The IPCC reports in 2001 relating the severity of global warming led to wide-scale membership loss, and the group disbanded entirely in 2002. In the case of the GCC, BP was the first to quit the GCC, citing the fact that “the link between greenhouse gases and climate change is conclusively proven”. Soon after, American Electric Power, Dow, Dupont, Royal Dutch Shell, Ford, Daimler Chrysler, Southern Company, Texaco, and General Motors all left the organization.
Has the U.S. Chamber of Commerce picked up a doomed cause in their fight against climate change legislation? Should they be siding with the members of their organization that are on the side of scientific evidence and political momentum?
In their defense, the Chamber said "the chamber's message has become muddled and that it's not questioning the science behind climate change, but rather the science that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is using to regulate emissions," according to the AP. Still, the desertion continues.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce used to be a bipartisan trade association that lobbied to tailor U.S. policies to benefit its members, but critics claim that is has become simply a part of the Republican machine. While the Chamber claims to "advance human progress through an economic, political, and social system based on individual freedom, incentive, initiative, opportunity, and responsibility," it is dominated by oil companies, pharmaceuticals, and other polluting industries that seek to dely progress on the most pressing issue of our time. (Sourcewatch)
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