Are Corporations Sabotaging America’s Best Chance to Fight Climate Change?

This story was originally published by Grinding and appears here as part of the Climate Table collaboration.

American companies love climate action. At least that’s what companies’ public climate promises make you think. But his lobbying activity often says otherwise.

Despite ambitious commitments to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, a new report from the nonprofit ClimateVoice reveals 12 of America’s largest pro-climate companies are obstructing efforts to pass the Build Back Better Act, the multi-billion dollar budget reconciliation package that would help steer the nation toward meeting the Paris Agreement goal to limit global warming to 1.5C.

The White House and progressive senators say the Build Back Better Act is the nation’s best opportunity to mitigate future suffering and costs related to climate change, which promise to be astronomically higher than the initial cost of reducing emissions now. But the bill, which contains funding for several green initiatives, clean energy tax credits and a program that would cut approximately 80 percent of emissions from the electricity sector By the end of this decade, it’s on the rocks. Democrats cannot decide among themselves how much to spend on the package or even exactly which programs should be included in it. If the weather part gets its nails removed or cut off entirely, the left may not have another chance to pass the climate policy for a period of time. long time.

As this debate unfolds, corporations such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Nike and Pfizer are among those “losing the moment,” according to the ClimateVoice report.

The report, which was created in association with think tank InfluenceMap, called 20 of America’s largest companies “climate positive” – ​​companies that have come out publicly with commitments to reduce their environmental impact or that have supported policies related to climate change. the weather in the past. ClimateVoice then judged the companies based on three criteria to see if they were “leading” efforts to pass the Build Back Better Act: supporting the bill’s climate policies, supporting its revenue provisions to pay for those policies, and opposing lobbying by trade associations that would undermine the bill.

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None of the companies met all three criteria, and 12 of them, including 3M, Cisco and Tesla, met zero. Eight companies met just one or two criteria, lending “cautious” support to the Better Reconstruction Act, but without putting their full weight behind it. These were Amazon, Apple, Exelon, Facebook, Microsoft, Netflix, Salesforce, and Walmart.

Bill Weihl, founder of ClimateVoice, chided companies for prioritizing tax cuts and deregulation over the opportunity to support historic climate legislation. “This is our chance to achieve national policy,” he said, yet most green companies have been silent on the bill. If companies don’t step up, Weihl added, “they will be held accountable for years to come.”

One of the most common reasons for a low score was from corporations links with lobbyists and commercial organizations struggling to block the reconciliation package. The US Chamber of Commerce is among the groups that have vigorously opposed the bill, calling him a collection of bad “everything but the kitchen sink” policies. The Business Roundtable and the National Manufacturers Association have also been fighting it, with the former saying it has mounted a “meaningful and multifaceted campaign”To oppose the tax provisions of the bill.

Weihl accused the lobbyists of disproportionately representing the interests of members of the fossil fuel industry. “They are trying to maintain the status quo for oil and gas,” he said.

Kendra Haven, director of the US program for InfluenceMap, noted that lobbyists ‘positions were out of step with their members’ positions on climate policy. For instance, Previous analysis InfluenceMap has suggested that despite supporting some market-based mechanisms to address climate change, the Chamber of Commerce’s commitment to climate policy is much more aligned with some of its fossil fuel industry members. than with the vast majority of its other components.

“It raises questions about how their political decisions are made,” he said. “But without visibility for those internal processes, we can’t know.”

All but one of the companies included in ClimateVoice’s analysis, Tesla, has ties to one or more of the three lobbyists highlighted in the report (the Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and the National Manufacturers Association). Five companies – 3M, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Pfizer, and Salesforce – are connected to all three, either as corporate members or through executives who serve on lobbyist boards of directors.

The Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, and the National Manufacturers Association did not respond to requests for comment from Grinding.

Three of the 12 corporations that met zero of ClimateVoice’s criteria responded GrindingRequest for comments. 3M said it supports the Paris Agreement and noted that it recently signed a statement in support of a clean electricity standard. Coca-Cola said it “appreciates” the efforts of lawmakers to address America’s climate goals and remains committed to its own “science-based goals related to climate change.” PepsiCo sent links to its guidelines for participation in public policies And it is climate commitment, which includes achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. Cisco, Google, HP, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s, Nike, Pfizer, Qualcomm and Tesla did not respond to Grindingrequest for comment or declined to comment.

Five of the eight corporations that received a “cautious” rating on the ClimateVoice scorecard responded. GrindingRequest for comments. Amazon confirmed for Grinding that admits a higher corporate tax rate to “pay for things like infrastructure.” An Exelon spokesperson called the report’s findings “demonstrably false” and cited the company’s history of lobbying for climate policy and its efforts to decarbonize its energy supply. Facebook sent a link to a public statement expressing support for the weather provisions of the Build Back Better Act. Salesforce shipped Grinding to blog post confirming the company’s support for the bill’s climate policies and said the company is “willing to accept payments related to climate pieces” of the legislation. Walmart said it has not taken a position on any specific bill and sent a LinkedIn posting highlighting the company’s past sustainability actions and calling for market-based emission reduction policies. Apple, Microsoft and Netflix declined to comment.

To fully support the reconciliation package and give it a fighting chance, Haven and others have asked the 20 companies mentioned in the report to give their full support to the bill, both in the climate and tax sections, and to reprimand the activity. . of their lobbyists, either through public disavowals or by abandoning organizations altogether.

“It has to be early, it has to be clear and it has to be strong,” Haven said, highlighting how much is at stake around the Build Back Better Act. “That would make them true leaders and could change the course of climate policy.”