The Green Chamber

 Joseph Winters at Grist:

Historically, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has not been a friend to climate activists. The world’s largest pro-business lobbying group has pushed against clean air and water regulations, criticized the Kyoto Protocol as “bad for the American economy, American workers, and American families,” and roundly rejected the science of human-caused climate change.

“You name the environmental issue, and they are opposing the protections,” said Dan Dudis, former director of Public Citizen’s Chamber Watch, in a 2017 interview with Racked.

So many business leaders were surprised when, after contributing millions of dollars to Republican climate deniers over the years, the Chamber of Commerce announced last month that it was endorsing nearly two dozen first-term Democratic candidates for Congress, including two in highly competitive toss-up races. While this is hardly the first time the lobby has endorsed Democrats, it’s rare for the Chamber to do so in such large numbers.

“The Chamber of Commerce is trying to reinvent itself,” said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for the nonprofit Public Citizen. Since the 2016 election, when it threw its support behind Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, the group has gradually retreated from the far right, he said. “They’ve started endorsing more Democrats, they’ve been tolerating more environmental issues.”

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The Chamber’s pro(ish)-climate moves might seem controversial to some of its members, but in the wider business landscape, they are somewhat belated. Many of the Chamber’s own members — companies like Gap, Pepsi, and Disney — have long had ambitious corporate sustainability pledges, promising to slash emissions or conserve resources for years. In fact, since 2009, Apple, Pacific Gas & Electric, Starbucks, Unilever, and General Mills have all left the Chamber, citing its anti-climate advocacy.

Now, the Chamber of Commerce is playing catch-up. On top of the news slew of Democratic endorsements, the group recently added a whole section to its website affirming that “the climate is changing and humans are contributing to these changes” before going on to endorse leadership in climate science, climate-resilient infrastructure, and energy efficiency.