Duke Energy Cut Its Payments to the US Chamber Over Climate

Looks like we'll have to add a new category to our US Chamber Climate Credibility Crisis Counter (honk if you love alliteration.)

As the Wall Street Journal recently reported, Duke Energy

has cut the electric utility's contributions to the Chamber over two years to protest the group's stance on climate change.

Duke CEO Jim Rogers explained his frustration stems from the fact that the US Chamber has

"put Main Street businesses in a precarious place by taking a position that's not credible and doesn't allow them to shape legislation to their members' benefit."

The Center for Political Accountabilty (CPA) and a number of investors have been calling on US Chamber members with more forward-looking views on climate policy - including Duke Energy - to "bring their political spending into alignment with their publicly stated positions on climate change," as Greenwire reported in October, by suggesting

"that that each company disclose the disagreement prominently on its Web site or refund the portion of its trade association payment that is used to craft climate policy positions."

Looks like Duke Energy went even further, by deciding to cut down the payments to the US Chamber altogether.

 

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.

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).