Climate debate leads to Chamber of Commerce rift

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September 28, 2009

MARK WILLIAMS and SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN The Daily Independent Mon Sep 28, 2009, 08:16 PM EDT

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — A rift widened Friday between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and some of its members as another major utility quit over the business group's hard stance against pending climate change legislation.

The Public Service Company of New Mexico, the state's largest utility, quit the chamber just days after California's largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., said it was leaving over the chamber's "extreme" positions.

Both sides of the climate change debate are escalating campaigns to sway national and global policy at a critical juncture.

Climate talks are ramping up this week at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, where President Barack Obama indicated he would call for an end to government subsidies that encourage the use of fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and natural gas. Fossil fuels are blamed for contributing to global warming.

A major fight is expected when the climate bill heads to the Senate, perhaps by the end of the year, which is also when a pivotal U.N. climate conference takes place in Copenhagen.

In August, the Chamber of Commerce issued a statement asking that the science of global warming be put on trial.

That appeared to be the catalyst for the current split.

"Not everybody agrees on everything but as the climate change debate has gone on, it has become clear to us that our position and the U.S. Chamber's position are not reconcilable," PNM spokesman Don Brown said Friday. "It doesn't make sense to us to be actively lobbying in D.C. for federal legislation at the same time that we're a member of an association that is aggressively opposing climate change legislation."

Chamber spokesman Eric Wohlschlegel said Friday the chamber's message has become muddled in recent months and that it's not questioning the science behind climate change, but rather the science that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is using to regulate emissions.

"Our message has been if the EPA is going to actually promulgate a rule that is going to have this kind of cascading effect on the economy and jobs then they really need to be transparent and clear about the science," he said.

The resignation of two members isn't too alarming, Wohlschlegel said.

Yet if the exodus continues the credibility of the organization could be threatened, especially if some of its biggest polluting members are leading the charge.

Utilities generate about 40 percent of the greenhouse gases in the U.S., yet they increasingly support new emissions caps included in legislation passed by the House this year.

"We think legislation is the best way to go because you can get significant reductions while at the same time building in protections that minimize the costs for customers," Brown said.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which provides natural gas and electric service to about 15 million people in northern and central California, also has been a proponent of federal legislation and the cap and trade system proposed under the Waxman-Markey bill.

Wohlschlegel stressed the debate is not about the science behind climate change, but rather how the federal government will go about regulating activities that contribute to global warming.

World leaders gather in Thailand next week to discuss new curbs on greenhouse gas emissions and on Friday, the European Union urged all countries to bring more "urgency and ambition" to reach an agreement.

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