The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's hostility to climate change legislation is making for something of a hostile climate for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Picking up on the momentum of the high-profile defections of Apple and the PG&E Corp from the business association, the Environmental Defense Fund and Silicon Valley groups are running ads in the San Jose Mercury News and the National Journal's Congress Daily to let the Chamber know that "Silicon Valley is ready to lead the world in the next great technological revolution: clean energy."
"No one can look at a Chamber executive and believe they speak for American businesses on climate change," said Environmental Defense Action Fund prez David Yarnold in a statement. "The Chamber is spoon-feeding Congress and the public a tired message that's stuck in the past. Thousands of companies are ready to move on to a new energy future, and a number of them are leaving the Chamber to prove it."
(The EDAF is the lobbying arm of the Environmental Defense Fund.)
Last week, Chamber CEO Tom Donahue complained that environmental groups are waging an "orchestrated pressure campaign" to get Chamber members to defect.
The ad, designed to look like an email from Silicon Valley to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is signed by Silicon Valley Joint Venture president Russell Hancock and Silicon Valley Leadership Group president Carl Guardino.
Here's a shot of the ad:
Click here to view a PDF of the ad.