New business group backs climate-change bill
David R. Baker
A new group of businesses – including retail giant Gap Inc. and several large utility companies – joined the lobbying fray over climate change on Wednesday, arguing that Congress must pass legislation to limit greenhouse gases as soon as possible.
American Businesses for Clean Energy will push for passage at the same time that other business groups, most notably the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, try to block or change global warming bills wending their way through Congress.
“We’re way behind in taking action, and we need to go now,” said Tom King, president of National Grid U.S., a utility serving parts of New England and New York.
“We know that leveraging each others’ strengths will only help to drive this important work forward more quickly,” said Kindley Walsh Lawlor, senior director of global responsibility at Gap, which is based in San Francisco.
Other business organizations, such as the United States Climate Action Partnership, have spent years urging Washington to fight global warming.
Organizers say the new group won’t delve into the fine details of legislation the way those other associations do. Instead, it will focus on a simple message, supporting congressional action to slash greenhouse gas emissions. It will complement other business organizations pushing for climate change bills, not compete with them.
“If your house is on fire and someone offers you an extra bucket of water, you accept,” said Auden Schendler, executive director of sustainability for the Aspen Skiing Co. His ski resort business, which could be devastated by a warming climate, was among the first to join American Businesses for Clean Energy, which lists 22 members on its Web site.
The group is being formed at a time of intense debate within the business community over global warming.
Several prominent companies, including Apple Inc. and PG&E Corp., recently left the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to protest its opposition to the climate bills in Congress.
Facing mounting criticism, the chamber on Tuesday sent a letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., saying it would work with Congress to draft climate change legislation the chamber could accept. The letter, however, warned that the group would continue to oppose “bad policies that resemble the failed climate proposals of the past.”
King and other members of American Businesses for Clean Energy said Wednesday that they welcome the chamber’s new tone, even if it doesn’t completely satisfy them.
“It’s important to see that followed up with action, because action is what we’re supporting,” King said.
