Chamber of Commerce Climate Civil War Continues

| Thu Oct. 1, 2009 9:36 AM PDT

The Chamber of Commerce civil war continues: the latest news is discontent from another significant player, General Electric.

GE spokesman Peter O’Toole told Politico that the company remains a member—though one clearly unhappy about the group's climate position.

"We’re a member of the Chamber because a lot of our customers are there, a lot of our competitors, so we get a good perspective on issues of national import," he said. "The Chamber does not speak for us on climate legislation, but we are still a member."

GE is the latest in a growing list of companies unhappy with the Chamber's position on climate. Yesterday, Nike announced that they are resigning from the board of directors, though they plan to maintain membership. The country's largest electric utility, Exelon, announced on Monday that they are leaving the group, joining California utility PG&E and New Mexico utility PNM in secession.

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Kate Sheppard covers energy and environmental politics in Mother Jones' Washington bureau. For more of her stories, click here. She Tweets here.

Comments

Chamber of Commerce Climate Civil War Continues

Submitted by Dredd (not verified) on Thu Oct. 1, 2009 1:00 PM PDT.

Well, on a different tact, it does seem that traditional commerce is the cause and reason for global climate change anyway, so perhaps the Chamber of Commerce is simply being honest: "the earth be damned, we have profits to think about".

I think GE should have withdrawn if the Chamber did not change its kooky stance, because the survival of the human species is a valid consideration and cause.

GE should stop the warmongering and get into technology we can believe in because nothing else matters as much as human survival.

In a small way, same here

Submitted by Eric (not verified) on Fri Oct. 2, 2009 3:59 AM PDT.

I am a small businessman, and in a small way I have made the same choice. My industry association takes political stances that make no sense except to curry favor with some powerful economic player, but offend my sense of truth and my own interests. I write critical letters to our executive director, but continue membership because my own commercial interests benefit therefrom. GE is a much bigger player, and maybe they have the ability to change the game, which I clearly do not. I have to conclude from the article that GE's management doesn't think so. Anyway, been there, done that, sometime all our choices suck.