Greenpeace Asks Tech Cos To Oppose US Chamber Of Commerce
October 27 2009 - 8:07PM
Dow Jones News
Technology companies like International Business Machines Corp.
(IBM), Google Inc. (GOOG) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) are being
pressured by environmental group Greenpeace to distance themselves
from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the business group's
opposition to federal climate change legislation.
Greenpeace, which released a ranking of technology companies
based on environmental criteria on Tuesday, says IT firms should do
more to advocate for climate change legislation. Many IT companies
have made environmentally-focused projects centerpieces of their
business strategies.
"The position of IT groups like Microsoft, Google and IBM on
climate change is nearly 180 degrees opposite to what's being said
by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce," said Casey Harrell, a Greenpeace
coordinator.
The Chamber of Commerce opposes climate change legislation that
has been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, known as the
Waxman-Markey Bill, which seeks to cap emissions and mandate
greater use of renewable energy. Several big U.S. companies,
including nuclear power operator Exelon Corp. (EXC), and utilities
PG&E Corp. (PCG) and PNM Resources Inc. (PNM), support the bill
and have distanced themselves from the Chamber's policies.
IBM has publicized energy efficiency initiatives for its
corporate customers and has lobbied the Obama Administration and
other government leaders about the role IBM can play in developing
green infrastructure. Google has backed start-up companies in the
green energy field with venture capital.
An IBM spokesman said the company believed climate change was a
"serious issue" that needed to be addressed by the public and
private sector. But the company believes framing legislation should
be "the province of climate change scientists and legislators," he
said.
A spokesman for Google said the company didn't support the
Chamber of Commerce's approach to climate change and had asked that
it "stopped characterizing their views as representative of the
broader membership."
Neither the Chamber of Commerce nor Microsoft could immediately
be reached for comment.
-By Jessica Hodgson, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-439-6455;
jessica.hodgson@dowjones.com
(Cassandra Sweet contributed to this article.)