**apologies for cross-posting**

Good afternoon,

Change the Chamber, a coalition of over 100+ student groups from across the country, supported by Public Citizen, the League of Conservation Voters and Sierra Club, is leading a letter calling on corporations to quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce unless the nation’s largest business lobbying group takes meaningful steps to end their climate hypocrisy and cease their destructive pro-fossil fuel lobbying. The text of the letter is available below and attached to this email.

If your organization is interested in signing onto this letter, please fill out this form by no later than Wednesday, June 9^th, at 5pm ET. If you have any questions about the effort, please contact Change the Chamber at ChangeUSChamber@gmail.com or feel free to reach out to me as well at dshadburn@lcv.org.

Please feel free to share this letter with your networks as well. Thank you,

-David

David Shadburn (he/him)

Government Affairs Advocate, Climate Change and Clean Energy

League of Conservation Voters

Cell: (917) 742-3078

Dear Members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,

The signatories write to you regarding the misalignment between your companies’ public stance on climate change and that of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. We respectfully request that your companies take steps, listed below, to address this misalignment.

Our primary concern is that the U.S. Chamber continues to use its political influence to promote public policy on climate issues that, if adopted, will contribute to catastrophic levels of climate change. The U.S. Chamber’s current lobbying stance creates two unacceptable risks for your businesses:

First, as the country’s largest trade association, the U.S. Chamber is obstructing science-based climate action. If the United States, as the world’s largest economy and the national responsible for the most historical emissions, fails to set out an ambitious climate agenda, we increase the risk that other international stakeholders will fail to act adequately, leading to a warming scenario of 3-4°C by 2100.^[1] This would be catastrophic for all business sectors.

Second, the U.S. Chamber’s counter-productive stances pose a reputational risk to your businesses’ brands. Youth, journalists, civil society groups, shareholders, and consumers are increasingly turning their attention to how trade associations play a key role in diluting science-based climate action. Prominent brands that fund obstructionist lobbying groups in this critical “decade of action,”^[2] will ultimately be held to account for the oncoming climate chaos. Proactively addressing this misalignment with the U.S. Chamber is not only a service toward a stable climate, but also serves your corporate interests.

We are deeply grateful for those of you who have already worked to change the U.S. Chamber’s climate stances. However, the unfortunate fact is that, some limited rhetoric aside, the U.S. Chamber is not meaningfully evolving on core climate issues. Even Royal Dutch Shell recently critiqued the U.S. Chamber in its “Industry Associations Climate Review 2021” report, noting that it has: (1) not stated a position on net zero emissions, (2) not explicitly stated a position in support of carbon pricing, (3) not stated a position on nature-based solutions for carbon-capture, and (4) stated a position opposing the reform of vehicle fuel economy standards by the state of California.^[3] In the first quarter of 2021 alone, the U.S. Chamber has worked to impede climate solutions by supporting lawsuits on behalf of polluters and partnering with the fossil fuel industry to criticize the necessary pause on drilling on federal public lands, among other actions.

Moreover, as the National Intelligence Council noted in March, “our understanding of climate change has become increasingly strong,” and the urgent need for science-based climate action has become increasingly clear.^[4] The New York Times recently reported from a Princeton study that global warming of more than 1.5°C is projected to render a band roughly 3,000 miles from north to south around the Equator, an area home to more than three billion people, potentially unbearable for humans.^[5] The consequences of these monumental risks are difficult to imagine.

To that end, we request that your companies take the following measures:

Release a public statement calling attention to the climate-policy misalignment between your company and the U.S. Chamber, as well as the reasons why.

Request a meeting with Neil Bradley, Chief Policy Officer of the U.S. Chamber, and Suzanne Clark, CEO of the U.S. Chamber to express the following:

Your concern with the U.S. Chamber’s climate stances;

That your company wants the U.S. Chamber to support the suite of public policies recommended by the B-Team,^[6] a collective of corporate leaders;

That, failing these policy changes, your company will re-evaluate its membership in the U.S. Chamber as a result of climate misalignment.

This letter is addressed to large corporate members of the U.S. Chamber who have taken more aggressive public stances on addressing the climate crisis than the U.S. Chamber. If your companies are committed to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change, you must not allow your membership dues to continue funding lobbying efforts that run counter to your values. We urge you to contact the U.S. Chamber today.

Should you have any questions or wish to have a conversation about the U.S. Chamber, please contact Change The Chamber at changeuschamber@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Change the Chamber

League of Conservation Voters

Public Citizen

Sierra Club

^[1] International Energy Agency (IEA). “World Energy Outlook 2019.” November 2019.

^[4] National Intelligence Council. “Global Trends 2040: A More Contested World.” March 2021.