This just in:
Nike announces it is resigning from the US Chamber Board of Directors.
I guess the Chamber's desperate attempt to persuade the public and its members of an alternative reality in which the Chamber champions climate legislation didn't work. Nike's announcement, coming on the heels of the US Chamber's newest push to justify its climate position, shows that the Chamber will have to do a lot more than repackage their oppositionist stance if they want to stop the bleeding. The fact is that there are scores of major US companies that want clean energy and climate policy, and the Chamber either has to represent those views or lose its voice completely on this isse.
Nike is a member of Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP), a business coalition that supports federal clean energy and climate policy.
Anyway, here is Nike's statement:
September 30, 2009
Nike believes US businesses must advocate for aggressive climate change legislation and that the United States needs to move rapidly into a sustainable economy to remain competitive and ensure continued economic growth.
As we've stated, we fundamentally disagree with the US Chamber of Commerce on the issue of climate change and their recent action challenging the EPA is inconsistent with our view that climate change is an issue in need of urgent action.
We believe businesses and their representative associations need to take an active role to invest in sustainable business practices and innovative solutions.
It is important that US companies be represented by a strong and effective Chamber that reflects the interests of all its members on multiple issues. We believe that on the issue of climate change the Chamber has not represented the diversity of perspective held by the board of directors.
Therefore, we have decided to resign our board of directors position. We will continue our membership to advocate for climate change legislation inside the committee structure and believe that we can better influence policy by being part of the conversation. Moving forward we will continue to evaluate our membership.
Nike's move follows a series of high-profile departures and criticisms of the US Chamber by Exelon, PNM Resources, PG&E and Johnson&Johnson.