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The Voice of Progressive Business Rocks the Capital
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By Inspired Protagonist - October 14, 2009

White HouseIn an unprecedented blitz on Washington DC, progressive business leaders met with 51 senators and talked with senior White House officials this week about how to move cap and trade climate legislation, now called The American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009, through the Senate. The day started in the White House with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, former EPA head and current Energy "czarina" Carol Browner, and Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President. It was almost bizarre to be sitting inside the White House surrounded by brilliant people who are so passionate about the issues we care about most instead of demonstrating with them outside.

White House officials spoke about our need to, "lead the next industrial and energy revolution," and noted that, "the days of externalizing the costs of fossil fuels are over."

I was proud to represent a multitude of groups from Seventh Generation to CERES, BICEP, and the newly created American Sustainable Business Council that have come together under the banner "We Can Lead."

While many participants lobbied their respective senators, my own delegation, Vermont's Senators Leahy and Sanders, has led the charge in support of the bill, and so all I could offer them was our thanks. But we were able to discuss the business case for regulating CO2 emissions with many others who are still sitting on the fence.

Senators on both sides of the aisle have also have taken great notice of the many major businesses that have been defecting from the ranks of the Chamber of Commerce over that organization's irrational position on the cap and trade bill in particular and global climate change in general. Thomas Freidman recently noted that, "the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, having sold its soul to the old coal and oil industries, uses its influence to prevent Congress from passing legislation to really spur renewables. Hats off to the courageous chairman of Pacific Gas and Electric, Peter Darbee, who last week announced that his huge California power company was quitting the chamber because of its 'obstructionist tactics.' All shareholders in America should ask their C.E.O.'s why they still belong to the chamber."

Following that defection, Apple Computer, Chicago-based Exelon, and New Mexico-based PNM Resources Inc. all stated their intention to leave the chamber and NIKE resigned its position on the board of directors, all promising developments that give me hope that the change we seek may come to our salvation after all.

photo: Luigi Crespo

Comments
Getting corporate America in-step
Posted by Ruth Davis | Wed, Oct. 14, 2009

This is great news that the discussion is occurring at this level. There are other ways that we as individual Americans can have influence.

1) Holding corporations responsible for considering the whole picture of costs of doing business, rather than privatizing profits and socializing the costs. Jim Jubak wrote a great blog piece on externalities about a week ago or so. You can read it here.

2) For anyone who has a 401(k) or invests and wants their money to support enterprises that are socially responsible, check out www.sri-advisor.com. It'll direct you to investment companies that screen the companies in their portfolios for responsibility criteria. If we move in this direction, companies seeking investors will have to comply.

Hurray!
Posted by Pirogoeth | Thu, Oct. 15, 2009

Finally there is progress! People are realizing that we can't keep going the way we have. We need to be encouraging and supporting companies that are trying to use more and make more eco-friendly production and products. The fact that major energy companies along with Apple and Nike are pulling out of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in support of this Act. Hopefully they will inspire others to join them and this Act will get passed and a major breakthru will finally happen!

Curious?
Posted by mnm20107 | Thu, Oct. 29, 2009

I guess I need to research more because I am not aware of the evil practices of the Chamber of Commerce. I am glad to see people discussing and working towards energy independence and responsibility. My only concern I can't seem to find an answer to yet is what the solution is to higher costs for energy being burdened by those who can't afford higher costs. Does anyone smarter than me know the answer to this question?

re: Curious?
Posted by Christopher Miller | Tue, Nov. 10, 2009

mnm20107:

Thanks a lot for taking the time to read our post on Jeffrey's recent trip to Washington, DC to support action on climate change. We appreciate very much you taking the time to share your comments.

First, on the Chamber. As you may have read, they have seen steady bleed of companies leaving because of their regressive position on climate change. It seems clear that the Chamber is not only out of step with a sizable portion of the US business community (see the list of US CAP companies supporting climate legislation), but clearly they are out of step with a sizable portion of their own membership. To read more about the Chamber's position on climate change and the companies that have left it, check out this blog post on ThinkProgress.org.

Your point around the impacts of the current climate legislation on low and middle income Americans is a very important point. With the passage of the current climate legislation, it is likely that in the near term, energy cost will increase. To be honest, that's the point of the bill, to make it more expensive to pollute. As you know, the cap and trade program will raise billions of dollars over the life of the legislation through the auction of pollution credits. The current legislation sets aside a portion of those proceeds to offset the cost of higher energy prices on those least able to afford them. We would however, like it to see a higher percentage of the allocation revenue set aside for this purpose. You can check out testimony that the Chief Economist from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities gave before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on this very issue.

Thanks again for taking the time to share your comments, and sorry it took me longer that I would have liked to respond.

Best,

Chris Miller
Corporate Consciousness
Seventh Generation