The U.S. Chamber Doesn't Speak For Me

Today, the US Chamber of Commerce continued its crusade to strip the ability of our government to hold corporate polluters accountable for their actions.

In an email blast this morning asking their supporters to push Congress to destroy the Clean Air Act and Environmental Protection Agency, the Chamber wrote, “Legislation by regulation has no place in a democracy that values accountability and transparency — there have to be checks and balances.”

This is just the type of rhetoric one would expect from the communications hacks at the Chamber. It’s classic PR spin, after all: pick a narrative that appeals to American values; use words that we all agree with, like “democracy;” and use it to make a completely circuitous argument.

One of the reasons we have agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, of course, is so that there is a “check and balance” against the large corporations that threaten to overwhelm the rights and voices of everyday citizens. Having a watchdog that works on behalf of the environment and public health means that the public can force at least a certain level of “accountability and transparency” onto some of the largest polluters in the world.

Instead of this system, one that for decades allowed our economy to grow while improving the quality of our nation’s water and air, the US Chamber wants to hand over control to politicians in Congress. Do they really think the public is going to be duped by this argument?

According to recent polling, more than 70% of Americans disapprove of the way Congress is doing its job. And they have good reason, especially when it comes to keeping an eye on big corporations. After all, with campaign contributions from corporate polluters at an all time high, why would the public trust a politician in Congress to bite the hand that feeds it?

Yet again, the Chamber is lining itself up on the side of corporate special interests and against the people and small businesses who depend on our government and public institutions to hold big polluters accountable.

One of the best ways we can break the stranglehold that the U.S. Chamber has on Congress is by bringing our voices right to their front steps. That’s why we’re partnering with the 10,000-strong Power Shift 2011 youth climate conference to fight back.

On Monday, April 18th, we’ll stand together to reclaim our democracy from big corporations and push our nation to move beyond dirty energy.

RSVP on Facebook here >>

We’ll rally at Lafayette Park, outside the White House, and right across the street from the Chamber of Commerce, one of the biggest dirty energy lobby groups in Washington. We’ll call out big polluters and corrupt politicians, and make sure our leaders hear us loud and clear: we want a Power Shift.

Then we will form two marches, one storming Capitol Hill to lobby and hold our elected leaders accountable, the other will march from one corporate polluter’s office to another and return to Lafayette Park for a dance party.

Every generation needs a new revolution. This one is ours.

WHAT: Fight big polluters, move beyond dirty energy rally

WHERE: Lafayette Park, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington DC

WHEN: Monday, April 18 10:00am-11:15am then march!

We’re celebrating the news today that Fox News is giving Glenn Beck’s show the boot!

How is this news related to our fight against the US Chamber of Commerce?

For one, Glenn Beck has a been a long time opponent of clean energy and environmental sanity. He’s not only belittled the importance of protecting our public health from big polluters, but gone on the offensive, attacking movement heroes such as Van Jones, who was forced to resign from working on Green Jobs at the White House after a right-wing smear led by Beck and his colleagues.

More specifically, as you can see in an article by 350.org founder Bill McKibben from The Washington Post, Beck has been a long-time attack dog for the US Chamber. He went so far as to feature 350.org as part of a communist conspiracy on his infamous blackboard.

Organizing small businesses to speak out in support of a new clean energy economy that can get us out of the recession and save the planet is communist? Maybe in the twisted world of Glenn Beck. Thankfully, far fewer of us need to see that world now. And if we do our job right, maybe the head of the US Chamber, Tom Donahue will be the next to get the boot.

Read on for Bill’s piece on Beck and the Chamber:

My life as a communist
By Bill McKibben
Tuesday, March 1, 2011

My life as a communist actually began without me knowing it, on Friday evening, when Glenn Beck spent his program explaining about a “communistic” conspiracy that included 10 groups in America. One was 350.org, a global campaign to fight climate change that I helped found three years ago. He even put our logo up on his whiteboard – and next to it a hammer and sickle.

Since I don’t actually watch Mr. Beck, I didn’t know about it until e-mails began to arrive, informing me that indeed I was a communist. My first reaction was: I’m not a communist. I’m a Methodist.
(more…)

In an e-mail sent out earlier today, the US Chamber asked its members to write letters to Congress, urging that they pass 5 different attacks on the Clean Air Act that would effectively block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions. Their argument? That the EPA regulations “will impose what could prove to be the most costly, burdensome, and expansive set of job killing regulations ever crafted.”

By saying that regulating greenhouse gases is too costly and burdensome for the American economy, the Chamber is asserting that industry profit margins hold more value than clean air, healthy communities and a stable climate. They aren’t taking into account the fact that unchecked greenhouse gas emissions lead to increases in asthma and other respiratory ailments in people, in addition to severe environmental degradation and a more rapidly warming climate—these are the real costs that we need to be concerned about, and the price tag for fixing them would be monumentally higher than what big polluters will have pay for a new filter on a smoke stack.

In its shortsightedness, the Chamber also states that “there’s a growing consensus that the EPA’s efforts are a barrier to our country’s economic recovery.” Clearly, the Chamber hasn’t checked its facts or figures recently. California recently passed a clean energy bill that will create 500,000 green collar jobs for the state, and the wind industry already employs more people in the United States than the coal industry does.

It’s time to fight back against the Chamber’s harmful slandering of the Clean Air Act, and to change the narrative around clean energy—regulating greenhouse gases leads to industry innovation and healthier communities, and clean energy means more jobs and more financial security for the American economy.

Please take a moment to call your Senator today. They need to know that we love the Clean Air Act, and that we’re willing to fight to protect it.

Right now members of Congress are debating a bill that would strip the EPA of its right to regulate greenhouse gas pollution. Lauren Levenstein chronicles the mounting evidence that the US Chamber of Commerce is an active player in this effort to undermine the EPA’s ability to protect our air and our planet.

“In her letter to supporters regarding the EPA vote today, the Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy President Karen Harbert concludes, “There’s a growing consensus that EPA’s efforts are a barrier to our country’s economic recovery.  Further, the EPA is superseding the power of Congress.”  Doesn’t she mean the U.S. Chamber?”

Cross-posed from U.S Chamber Watch- written by Lauren Levenstein on April 06, 2011

Since the Republican victories on Election Day 2010, many have said “one of the biggest losers…was the U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)” which was “expected to be the target of bruising congressional attacks.” Most stories have focused on Republicans leading the fight to block the EPA, when the spotlight should really be on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  The Chamber, an organization that has done more than anyone else to destroy climate legislation, spent over $32 million in 2010 to elect those Republicans and is now looking for a return on its investment.  Now the Chamber is actively supporting a bill offered by the GOP that would prevent the EPA from enforcing its Constitutional right to protect the air we breath from dangerous pollutants and further weaken the agency.

Continue reading here.

Most experts agree that high gas prices aren’t due to supply and demand — and that drilling for more oil won’t reduce the price at the pump. Indeed, most of the testimony from witnesses at this congressional hearing yesterday, suggests that financial speculation is largely to blame. Except for the US Chamber of Commerce; Their lobbyists have opposed laws to reign in Wall St. speculators, and pushed for more drilling, offshore, onshore, and everywhere in the country.

One of the repercussions of state budget battles in Ohio resulted in two innovative companies ditching the Ohio Regional Chambers of Commerce. These two companies don’t agree with the stance this regional chamber took in support of the state union-busting bill. Here’s the statement from one of the CEOs: “I am a strong supporter of teachers and safety forces workers as some of the greatest heroes in our society. Clearly they are among the most underpaid members of our society considering the enormous contribution they make. To single these heroes out and remove rights that are available to the rest of society I feel is simply unconscionable and not in line with my personal beliefs.”

More here from Daily Kos.

We have seen all the ways that the US Chamber is asserting its influence over Congress, and even witnessed Obama offering Tom Donahue an olive branch and a hearty handshake, but the Supreme Court? It seems the “impartial” third branch of government is also caving to US Chamber pressure– with Roberts at the helm, each of the nine justices are showing more support for the Chamber than their predecessors. It’s time to show all branches of government that the U.S Chamber of Commerce does not speak for us, and is not a legitimate representative of American small businesses.

Chamber of Commerce’s Top

SCOTUS Litigator Admits Justices Give

Special Treatment to Chamber

Thanks to ThinkProgess blogger, Ian Millhiser for breaking this news.

A recent study co-authored by conservative Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner confirms something that has been obvious to Supreme Court watchers for years — the Roberts Court places a huge thumb on the scale in favor of corporate interests. According to the study, the Roberts Court rules in favor of business interests 61 percent of the time, a 15 point spike from the five years before when Chief Justice Roberts joined the Court.

While the Chamber of Commerce has recently tried to downplay the favorable treatment it receives from the Supreme Court, its own top lawyer admitted a few years after Roberts joined the Court that the justices give his client special treatment.

Continue reading here.

The headquarters of the US Chamber sit in Washington DC, adjacent to the White House. A giant sign reading “jobs” adorns the building. “Job-killing” is a oft-used phrase in their lobbying documents referring to EPA regulations that protect our climate and human health.

Perhaps the leadership of the US Chamber would be interested to learn that today, the California state assembly just passed a renewable energy bill that amounts to one of the most aggressive climate law anywhere in the world. The kicker? These provisions will help create 500,000 green jobs in our state.

If the Chamber has its way with its anti-climate lobbying, they not only harm the future of this planet: they make their building’s decoration seem like a joke.

BREAKING NEWS: The U.S Chamber announced this morning plans to take its historically cross-eyed aim at the latest ill-advised lobby target, the EPA's ability to protect our air and our atmosphere. The US Chamber is rallying in support of Senator Mitch McConnell's  Energy Tax Prevention Act , which would strip the EPA of its right to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Not out of character, given the US Chamber's legacy of blocking any attempts to limit pollution or protect public health.

But this amendment is concealed in a larger small business bill, and just like the U.S Chamber, assumes to represent the interests of small businesses across the country. Click here to help us reach small businesses in your community that are ready to declare independence from the US Chamber's backward, dirty-money-driven position.