US Chamber of Commerce Gets Punk’d

The message at Monday’s press conference in Washington was a shock: the US Chamber of Commerce dropping its opposition to climate change legislation. The change of heart was inspired in part by the exodus of members who had quit the organization in the last several weeks over its opposition to that legislation.

The speaker said, “We at the Chamber have tried to keep climate science from interfering with business. But without a stable climate, there will be no business.”

A reporter who asked about other Chamber members who continued to oppose climate legislation was told, "There will always be people behind the times."

But it turned out the event was a hoax – complete with fake handouts on Chamber letterhead and a Chamber seal on the podium. When an employee of the real Chamber came in, asking for identification, the press conference broke up.

The real spokesman said the Chamber's position had actually not changed. He said the Chamber has in fact called for "strong" legislation on climate change, but they do not support the bill passed by the U.S. House this summer. Yesterday the Chamber announced it had spent $34.7 million on lobbying, just in the third quarter, against such climate change regulation (also on its other major issue: lobbying against health care reform that includes a public option or employer mandate).

The Yes Men have claimed responsibility for the event, one in a line of hoaxes they’ve created to draw attention to slow progress on climate change. They were also responsible for the fake copies of the New York Post distributed last month during a U.N. climate conference, with headlines proclaiming "We're Screwed."

-- Suzanne Bopp