In 2017, a group of companies formed The Climate Solutions Working Group,12 a small group of Chamber members dedicated to reforming the Chamber’s climate lobbying. Some of the Chamber’s high-level statements have appeared more positive, for example, lobbying on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs),13 starting a task force for climate actions, and making positive statements supporting the climate elements of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal (BID).14
There is zero public evidence that these companies have changed the Chamber’s anti-climate position. An InfluenceMap briefing found “shifts in the Chamber’s high-level messaging since 2017 have been little more than PR tactics.”15
In fact, over the past two years, the Chamber had opportunities to endorse landmark climate legislation (the Inflation Reduction Act) and support several significant environmental regulations. Instead, they continue to actively oppose climate policy action.
Politico covered the Chamber’s strategy to put a stop on Build Back Better, writing, “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is readying a multi-pronged ad blitz aimed at keeping the pressure on two of the bill’s key holdouts in the Senate, Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona… Manchin has re-emerged of late as the primary roadblock to the bill, which would raise taxes on corporations, fund climate initiatives and reform prescription drug pricing — all provisions that the Chamber doesn’t like.”16
In a 2023 briefing, InfluenceMap compared the Chamber’s climate policy positions to the American Petroleum Institute (API) and found remarkable consistency.
Once Congress passed the IRA in August 2022 the Chamber continued to oppose the legislation, but acknowledged that “While it is worth noting that there are parts of the bill that would advance progress on climate and energy security, the benefits of these provisions do not outweigh the negative impacts of the provisions discussed above.”17
Early on in this policy battle, Patrick Flynn, Salesforce’s head of global sustainability at the time, was quoted as saying “We are actively working to improve the Chamber’s position on climate.”18