October 07, 2009 10:15 PM UTC

Apple Latest Defection from Chamber of Commerce

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• by: Colorado Pols

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has become more and more of an organization that stands on pretty firm conservative Republican positions, refusing to budge on even major issues like Health Care Reform that would seemingly benefit many small business owners. As The Washington Post reports, these hard stances are not helping them maintain their membership:

Apple is pulling out of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because of the organization’s strident criticism of plans to reduce U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions, the computer giant said Monday…

…In a letter to the Chamber’s president, Apple Vice President Catherine Novelli wrote, “Apple supports regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and it is frustrating to find the Chamber at odds with us in this effort.” As a result, Novelli said, “we have decided to resign our membership effective immediately.”

The Chamber of Commerce, which says it represents more than 3 million businesses, has been one of the strongest critics of legislation aimed at reducing U.S. emissions…

…Apple’s decision makes it the fourth major company in several weeks to pull out because of the Chamber’s climate policy, said Pete Altman, a Natural Resources Defense Council activist. The others have been the power companies Pacific Gas and Electric, PNM Resources, and Exelon.

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In addition, Nike resigned from its position on the Chamber’s board but not its membership.

The Chamber of Commerce is a powerful political force. But the more that they continue to stake out far-right positions, with no interest in what their members might or might not want (and seemingly with no interest as to what is actually good for their members), then the Chamber will start to become irrelevant sooner rather than later.