iQuit

The US Chamber of Commerce is up to its eyeballs in disgruntled members and as a membership organization, perhaps it will consider the incredible amount of damage it has done to is reputation by aggressively resisting climate change initiatives and legislation.

After all, here are a few of the highlights of the Chamber's resistance, courtesy of Brad Johnson over at The Wonk Room:

2009: Chamber SVP Kovacs Calls For 'Scopes Monkey Trial' On The 'Science Of Climate Change.' "It would be evolution versus creationism. It would be the science of climate change on trial." Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President William Kovacs explained that the Chamber was seeking a "Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century" on global warming to prevent the EPA from declaring greenhouse gases a threat to the public welfare. [Los Angeles Times, 8/25/09]

2009: Chamber Claims No 'Plausible Theory' To Link 'Climate Change With Extreme Weather Events And Disease In The United States,' Disputes 'Claims Of Ocean Acidification.' In an official filing prepared by the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis for the comments on the EPA's proposed endangerment finding for greenhouse gases, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce cited blog posts by global warming deniers such as Pat Michaels and Chip Knappenberger to challenge a broad range of climate change science, including sea level rise and the "UN/IPCC forecasted temperature increases." [U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 8/25/09]

2009: National Chamber Foundation Promotes Global Warming Denier Book As '#1′ Top Book Of The Year. Promoting "Climate of Extremes: Global Warming Science They Don't Want You to Know," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's National Chamber Foundation writes: "Climatologists Patrick J. Michaels and Robert Balling Jr. explain that climate science is hardly unbiased," and that the "pop-culture icons of climate change turns out to be short on facts and long on exaggeration." On Twitter, the National Chamber Foundation ranked the book "#1″ in its "Top Books of '09." [National Chamber Foundation, 8/20/09]

Of course this isn't really surprising when the head of the Chamber has received millions in board compensation from Union Pacific, a company that is is estimated makes 20% of its revenues hauling coal.

Now, however, the momentum is really moving against the Chamber and surely change must be in the air.

Today, Apple, to its great credit, resigned from the Chamber because of the Chamber's policies.

From the New York Times GreenInc blog we learn that Apple was clear as to why it's resigning.

Really clear.

Apple has become the latest company to resign from the United States Chamber of Commerce over climate policy.

"We strongly object to the chamber's recent comments opposing the E.P.A.'s effort to limit greenhouse gases," wrote Catherine A. Novelli, the vice-president of worldwide government affairs at Apple, in a letter dated today and addressed to Thomas J. Donohue, president and chief executive of the chamber.

Thank you Apple.

And just a little note to everyone who is still hanging around and supporting the Chamber.

The Chamber's position is clear. You stay in, and keep paying dues, you are supporting their position.

So should you stay or should you go?

We say go.

(There's much more on the Chamber here, and hats off to Pete Altman of NRDC for keeping the heat turned on high. Stay in touch on that here.)

Follow James Boyce on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jamesboyce

Comments

[ncmom54]

I had been a (local) chamber member for 20 years until I read where they are against the proposed Consumer Protection Agency... hmm, did some research and learned the heirchy. a portion of my dues go upstream to the state Chamber of Commerce then to the US Chamber. Not anymore. I cancelled.
but, If there were a Main Street Chamber of Commerce that would advocate and support small businesses... I would join. so would millions of others.

[COPerez]

Apple has really been working to burnish its Green Credentials over the past several years. I'm glad to see this latest step by them. Perhaps they should form an alternative organization that can then lobby on behalf of enlightened businesses.

[Kevin Grandia - Huffpost Blogger]

Great post James. I nominate you for best blog post title ever!

[James Boyce - Huffpost Blogger]

thanks Kevin

[MekhongKurt]

I'm glad to hear of these companies leaving. Actually, I read about one other company recently, but for Apple to take a hike is *really* encouraging, given their global profile and high recognition rate.

People in a state of denial need to get real. I spend a lot of time reading about global warming -- as in several hours almost every day, seven days a week. No, I'm not a scientist, but its blindingly obvious that we can affect the climate and that we are doing so.

I would laugh when I read the deniers claims that the past decade has been the coldest on record -- but I can't, because such crap is so dangerous.

I have one friend who is absolutely adamant -- and I'm convinced he is completely sincere in his belief -- that carbon dioxide is harmless to life. His "scientific resoning"? We *exhale* it, so it's gotta be harmless. When I finally asked him if he thought he could live in a pure carbon dioxide atmosphere, he snorted and said "Sure!"

And he wasn't joking.

We don't talk about it anymore; there's no way to overcome wilful ignorance. The irony is he used to work on offshore oil rigs -- but switched to selling them because "I got tired of breathing all that crap"!!!

Sigh . . .

[Pharos]

Tell him to try it in front of you so you can revive him.

[Melmonster]

It's wrong on so many levels....I couldn't agree more!

[PlaceboStudman]

Why do people want to destroy humanity?

The answer is, of course, as always, money, money, money

[RomeoMD25]

HR 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009

to let corporate polluters reap huge windfall profits by charging consumers more for energy and fuel as well as create a new bubble through carbon trading derivatives speculation. It does nothing to address environmental issues

Wall Street also will reap a huge bonanza through carbon trading derivatives speculation exploiting what Commodity Futures Trading commissioner Bart Chilton believes will be a $2 trillion market - "the biggest of any (commodities) derivatives product in the next five years." Others see a future annual market potential of up to $10 trillion based on these schemes

Contributing $4,452,585 to Democrats in 2008 (around $1 million to Obama) was mere pocket change for what it can reap from scams like cap and trade disguised as an environmental plan. The scheme was devised. GS helped write it. The House passed it and sent it to the Senate.

[PlaceboStudman]

Sadly, no legislation *EVER* truly addresses the causes of the issues they are intended to address. People are perfectly satisfied managing the effects of symptoms rather than getting to the root causes and finding real solutions, so everyone just focuses on topics that are going to anger the fewest people