{"id":1147,"date":"2009-09-29T16:57:59","date_gmt":"2009-09-29T21:57:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/?p=1147"},"modified":"2009-11-05T14:50:07","modified_gmt":"2009-11-05T19:50:07","slug":"u-s-chamber-of-commerce-tries-to-tap-dance-out-of-pr-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2009\/09\/29\/u-s-chamber-of-commerce-tries-to-tap-dance-out-of-pr-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Chamber of Commerce Tries to Tap Dance Out of PR Disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thomas Donahue, president and CEO of the Chamber, issued a statement today in response to heavy public criticism of the Chamber\u2019s position on climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His attempts to tap dance out of a public relations disaster, like the Chamber’s defense of the status quo, will do nothing to address the serious questions of American energy independence, climate change, and the development of a domestic clean energy industry.<\/p>\n

Donahue says it is \u2018dead wrong\u2019 that the Chamber is opposed to efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. But just a month ago, his senior vice president, William Kovacs, publicly demanded that the Environmental Protection Agency hold a hearing to put the \u2018science of climate change on trial.\u2019 Kovacs also told the media the hearing would be \u2018the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century \u2026 It would be evolution versus creationism.\u2019 There could not be a clearer repudiation of Donahue\u2019s claims than that.<\/p>\n

Donahue also blames environmentalists for his predicament when he says, \u2018Some in the environmental movement claim that, because of our opposition to a specific bill or approach, we must be opposed to all efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, or that we deny the existence of any problem.\u2019 But it\u2019s not the environmental movement that\u2019s opposing Donahue \u2013 it\u2019s his own membership.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the wake of Kovacs\u2019 statement, the Chamber has lost three prominent members — Chicago-based Exelon, California\u2019s Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM).\u00a0 Johnson & Johnson and Nike have also publicly criticized the Chamber’s stance on climate change. These companies have made it clear that the Chamber is not representing their best interests when it opposes legislation that will create both jobs and profits in the lucrative new clean energy economic sector.<\/p>\n

In a public letter to Donahue, PG&E chairman and CEO Peter Darbee wrote, \u2018Extreme rhetoric and obstructionist tactics seem to increasingly mark the Chamber\u2019s public stance on this issue \u2026 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. Unfortunately, it is difficult to read the Chamber\u2019s latest maneuvers on this issue as anything but the latter \u2026 I fear it has forfeited an incredible chance to play a constructive leadership role on one of the most important issues our country may ever face.\u2019<\/p>\n

That should disprove Donahue\u2019s statement that the Chamber\u2019s views are shared by \u2018the business community.\u2019<\/p>\n

Donahue also says the Chamber is leading the fight to clear the roadblocks that are delaying renewable energy development. But right now, the biggest roadblock to renewable energy development is the Chamber of Commerce itself, and its relentless attempts to undermine every good faith effort to create a new American energy policy.<\/p>\n

If Donahue wants us to take his claims seriously, he should start by talking to his own membership about why so many businesses think a clean energy bill is a good idea.<\/strong> Then he needs to make sure the Chamber\u2019s policies reflect the views of those businesses. Visionary American companies will undoubtedly be international leaders in the 21st century clean energy economy; the question is whether the Chamber will lead with them, or become a business relic like the phonograph or the pony express.<\/p>\n

Steve Cochran<\/a> is the director of EDF’s national climate campaign. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thomas Donahue, president and CEO of the Chamber, issued a statement today in response to heavy public criticism of the Chamber\u2019s position on climate change. His attempts to tap dance out of a public relations disaster, like the Chamber’s defense of the status quo, will do nothing to address the serious questions of American energy …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nU.S. Chamber of Commerce Tries to Tap Dance Out of PR Disaster - Climate 411<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2009\/09\/29\/u-s-chamber-of-commerce-tries-to-tap-dance-out-of-pr-disaster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"U.S. Chamber of Commerce Tries to Tap Dance Out of PR Disaster - Climate 411\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thomas Donahue, president and CEO of the Chamber, issued a statement today in response to heavy public criticism of the Chamber\u2019s position on climate change. 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