More Companies Break with Chamber over Climate Change

Power company NRG Energy rejected membership in the US Chamber of Commerce because of that organization’s “extreme” position on climate legislation, according to reporting by Politico.

The president and CEO of NRG Energy, David Crane, said, “Some time ago, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce approached us about becoming members and, after being briefed by their representative on the Chamber’s position on climate change, we declined to join. It was not that they opposed a specific federal climate bill; it was that their position on the issue was so extreme that we could only conclude their ultimate objective was to defeat all legislative efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions.”

Two other companies that are already Chamber members distanced themselves from the Chamber’s climate change positions. Dow Chemical told Politico reporters that no one should construe its membership in the Chamber as an endorsement of its climate views. “Dow affiliation with a particular group does not assume alignment with its principles on every issue, including climate change policy,” a spokesman said.

And Delaware's News Journal reported that PEPCO, a utility company recently named a leader on climate issues by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) S&P 500 Report, also rejects the US Chamber’s position on climate. The company supports congressional passage of climate change legislation in 2009.

The Chamber, meanwhile, remains unwilling to reconsider their stance on climate change legislation in light of the criticism and defections. “Members come and go all the damn time,” Chamber President Tom Donahue told Politico. With chin out and shoulders hunched Donahue, who's executing a vigorous counter attack in the press, also unwittingly expressed the chamber's clear agenda on climate action. "Is the science right? Is science not right? I don’t know,” he told Politico.