“When push comes to shove, the Chamber is here lobbying day in and day out. And it backs up its lobbying with electioneering muscle. And it’s interconnected with climate-denying groups that it can launch at candidates”
Lobbying
The Chamber spearheaded the effort against three major attempts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in the 2000s:
1) the bipartisan Energy Policy Act of 2005
2) the bipartisan, cap and trade Lieberman-Warner Climate Bill of 2007
3) the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill of 2009
Since the failure of Waxman-Markey, the Chamber’s allies in Congress have refused to hold hearings, mark ups, debates, or votes on any legislation proposing a policy framework for economy-wide reductions in carbon pollution.
2020
The Chamber has been leading the campaign to change the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for years. NEPA governs the cost-benefit analyses of new infrastructure proposals. NEPA has been a key piece of environmental legislation since it was enacted in 1970.
President Trump implemented the Chamber’s proposed changes.
The change eliminates considerations of “down-stream” emissions caused by new infrastructure. This means that the EPA no longer needs to consider how new infrastructure will lock-in an emission-heavy economy.
2019
The Chamber lobbied against the Democrats’ green infrastructure bill, known as the Green New Deal, taking particular aim against the aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
2017
In a legislative consultation, the Chamber requested for the EPA to stop calculating the social costs of carbon emissions, calling it “bad regulatory policy.”
The Chamber filed comments with the EPA opposing the finalization of vehicle GHG emission standards.
2017
The Chamber led a lobbying campaign in support of a Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal a Department of Interior rule that regulates methane emissions from fracking on public lands.
The Trump administration abolished the rule in 2018.
Methane leaks at fracking sites cause huge emissions.
2017
The Chamber wrote a letter to Congress in support of the “Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2016,” or H.R. 4775, a bill that would have delayed implementation of the Clean Air Act’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) program.
2016
The Chamber successfully mobilized to stop the Waxman-Markey cap and trade legislation from reaching the floor of the House.
2009
The Chamber successfully campaigned against the bipartisan, cap and trade, Lieberman-Warner Climate Bill.
They released an attack ad titled “Wake up to Climate Change Legislation.”
It made the completely unfounded claim that, “If this bill becomes law, 3.4 million Americans will lose their jobs. America’s GDP will decline by $1 trillion. And American consumers will be forced to pay as much as $6 trillion to cope with carbon constraints.”
2007
The Chamber successfully mobilized Congress to vote against the bipartisan cap and trade bill, “The Energy Policy Act of 2005.”
2005
The Chamber organized a “major national conference on the proposed Kyoto climate change protocol,” putting the worth of the Kyoto protocol in doubt.
The invitation letter said: “While much has been said and written about the science of climate change and the economic implications of the proposed Kyoto Protocol, little attention has been given to the effect of this sweeping and hastily drafted treaty on the sovereignty and national security of the United States,” from R. Bruce Josten, the Chamber's Executive Vice President of Government Affairs.”