Aspen Chamber of Commerce Opposes US Chamber's Climate Stance

Just before Thanksgiving, the Aspen Chamber of Commerce and Resort Association (the Aspen Chamber) passed a resolution stating the local Chamber "opposes the lobbying activities and current advertising campaign" of US Chamber of Commerce on climate issues.

As the Aspen Times reported,

The board approved the resolution on a 12-2 vote, and also agreed to survey ACRA members about their views on climate-change legislation . . .

The ACRA, says the resolution, recognizes that its individual members' views may differ on specifics of the issue, but believes members agree the issue needs to be constructively addressed. The ACRA wants to distance itself from lobbying and political activities that it doesn't consider helpful in the discussion, according to the resolution.

The ACRA, the resolution concludes, "opposes the lobbying activities and current advertising campaign" of the U.S. Chamber as not representing the local chamber. It also urges the national organization to cease its negative lobbying activities and work constructively to pass climate-change legislation and negotiate meaningful international treaties to limit carbon emissions.

Statements of both the Aspen Skiing Co.'s position and the city of Aspen's position on climate change are to be sent to the U.S. Chamber, along with the text of the ACRA resolution.

David Perry, Aspen Skiing Co. senior vice president and an ACRA board member, urged the chamber to take a stand on the national issue.

"Clearly we [the Skico] are very unhappy with the U.S. Chamber's position on the issue," said Perry, calling a U.S. Chamber television commercial on the climate topic "offensive and obstructive."

Aspen Mayor Mick Ireland, also an ACRA board member, decried the "reprehensible scare tactics" employed by the advertising and called for the board to take action.

U.S. CHAMBER CLIMATE CREDIBILITY CRISIS COUNTER:

Quit the U.S. Chamber over climate: Apple, Exelon, PNM Resources, PG&E, PSEG, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Mohawk Paper.

Quit the U.S. Chamber Board over climate: Nike.

Refused to join the U.S. Chamber over climate: NRG Energy

Reduced payments to the US Chamber over climate: Duke Energy

Companies that say the U.S. Chamber doesn't represent their views on climate: Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, Alcoa, Duke, Entergy, Microsoft, Royal Dutch Shell, Seventh Generation, Dow, PEPCO, Cisco Systems and small businesses in Minnesota, Colorado and Wisconsin.

Local Chambers distancing themselves from the U.S. Chamber: San Jose Chamber of Commerce, Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Aspen Chamber of Commerce and Resort Association.

Editorials and columns noting that the U.S. Chamber is damaging its reputation and credibility: BusinessWeek, PRWeek, Fortune Magazine's Marc Gunther, Newsweek, L.A. Times, Washington Post, Time, Marc Gunther (2nd story).