As the Senate gets set to take up climate change legislation, one of the key opponents of serious efforts to stop global warming may find its clout on the issue badly weakened.
That's because in recent weeks, several high-profile members of the Chamber of Commerce have gone public over their disagreement with the group's position, with some leaving the Chamber altogether over the issue.
This week, Exelon Corp., the country's largest utility company, announced it was quitting the group because of its opposition to action on global warming. In doing so, it joined two other utilities, PNM Resources Inc. and Pacific Gas & Electric Co, whose CEO last week called the Chamber's position "extreme."
Then on Wednesday, Nike, also citing the global warming issue, said it would resign its position on the chamber's board of directors, but would remain a member of the group. And a GE spokesman told Politico that "the Chamber does not speak for us on climate legislation," but that GE, too, would remain a member.
The Chamber's woes began when an official with the group recently called for a "Scopes Monkey Trial of the 21st century" to investigate whether man-made warming is occurring -- a fact which is no longer in doubt. In response, environmentalists began pressuring the Chamber's members to quit the group, or at least distance themselves from its position on the issue -- and they appear to be having some success.
In a letter to the Chamber, PG&E wrote:
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. In our opinion, an intellectually honest argument over the best policy response to the challenges of climate change is one thing; disingenuous attempts to diminish or distort the reality of these challenges are quite another.
In what looks like a damage control effort, the Chamber's CEO this week reiterated the group's position on the issue, asserting that the Chamber doesn't oppose all efforts to deal with climate change -- only those, like the Waxman-Markey bill, and its likely equivalent in the Senate, that are actually being considered.
Of course, there may be different commercial imperatives in play in each case. Exelon, for instance, is one of the country's largest producers of nuclear power, so it has an incentive to get on board early with efforts to encourage alternative energy. Nike, for its part, has an educated customer base that may punish it for appearing to support a discredited and irresponsible stance on a crucial issue of our time.
But ultimately, what matters is whether the Chamber's ability to fight action on global warming is impeded when the Senate takes up the issue. And it's not a stretch to think it could be.

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gizmo
October 2, 2009 4:46 PM
Great to see these companies taking action. The national Chamber of Commerce is a nasty outfit.
I'm a big supporter of my local Chamber, which has nothing to do with the national organization. A lot of people make the assumption that local Chambers are under the umbrella of the larger group, but that's not the case.
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Partisancheese
October 2, 2009 6:08 PM in reply to gizmo
"Climate Change" (i.e. global warming in conservative terms) is a real issue and one that can no longer just be ignored or laughed off by right-wingers. Thanks goodness the Senate is actually beginning to take it seriously. But honestly, by this point, much more should have been accomplished.
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Partisancheese
October 2, 2009 6:08 PM in reply to gizmo
"Climate Change" (i.e. global warming in conservative terms) is a real issue and one that can no longer just be ignored or laughed off by right-wingers. Thanks goodness the Senate is actually beginning to take it seriously. But honestly, by this point, much more should have been accomplished.
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career fed
October 2, 2009 9:22 PM in reply to gizmo
These companies aren't taking action - they were pressured into taking action by citizen activists like you & me that signed petitions and wrote emails and sent letters....
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brantlamb
October 5, 2009 8:19 AM in reply to gizmo
Then, where do they get their money from?
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hawaiian
October 2, 2009 10:27 PM
There is going to be a time when all of us will look at Global Warming / Climate Change / Global Cooling as W E A T H E R !
It will be like the people of Chicago being told they did not get the Olymics.
No matter how mush crap you can pack on Airforce 1 , its still crap.
Europe can see what this gang is and does not want what they are selling.
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midnight rambler
October 3, 2009 1:27 AM in reply to hawaiian
You are absolutely right. I predict that time will come during the second term of the Bachmann presidency.
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kenga
October 7, 2009 8:51 AM in reply to hawaiian
Sorry dude.
It's a common enough misunderstanding, but it's really not excusable in this day and age. Particularly for someone who quite obviously knows what the internet is, and has the knowledge and means to use it.
These may help you understand the difference.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weather
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/weather
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/climate
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/climate
Or, to analogize, it is the difference between the people in your town, and the entire human race.
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shooter242
October 3, 2009 12:52 PM
Oh you lovable losers. First, global warming has ceased for the last decade. Second, this is just a ploy to snag free passes for the Cap and Tax bill coming up.
When one's fate is decided in Washington DC rather than the marketplace, this is the result.
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Nylund
October 6, 2009 8:37 PM in reply to shooter242
Umm. first off, repealing Glass-Steagal and deregulating derivatives is the OPPOSITE of Washington deciding things over the market place. That was Washington giving the market back the power to decide on its own and the market failed miserably. You cannot be in support of an untethered free market without gov't intervention and claim that DEREGULATION is a problem! Those are entirely contradictory ideas.
Second, the claim that global warming has ceased for the last decade is simply not supported by the data:
http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/Fig.A2.lrg.gif
http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/Fig.A.lrg.gif
That trend is quite obviously sloping upwards.
But, I do find humor in your ability to state the complete opposite of the truth without any hint of irony.
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kirenos
October 7, 2009 9:08 AM in reply to Nylund
oh, but them be un-mercan celseeus d'grees, 'n don' count!
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we r all husseins
October 3, 2009 6:49 PM
this is the same marketplace that brought us the financial market crisis and bank failures, right?
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shooter242
October 4, 2009 1:49 PM in reply to we r all husseins
Exactly. When Washington pushes subprime lending, supports bad behavior at Fannie and Freddie, repeals Glass-Steagal, keeps rates low, and consciously decides to deregulate derivatives... this is what happens.
Washington wanted a particular outcome, and didn't "bank" on the unforseen consequences. Time tested regulation and prudent policy were replaced by the love of prosperity on a bipartisan basis. It's going to be interesting to see how the latest policies playout.
Think it's bad now?
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kenga
October 7, 2009 9:59 AM in reply to shooter242
Sub-prime lending was a creation of the finance industry, enabled by legislators and other leaders from business, for whom the lower classes are little more than prey.
I'd appreciate it if you would be a little more specific when you say "Washington". If you recall, our first President went by that surname. There is also a state by that name.
If you're talking about deregulation, say "pro-business politicians in Washington DC". It has the virtue of being reasonably accurate.
Say "market-cultists" or "laissez-faire conservatives" instead of bipartisan de-regulators, for the same reason.
The voices raised against the deregulation and weakening of the policies you mention weren't on the "right" side of the aisle.
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