The $3.5-trillion climate bill proposed by the democratic party has been hailed as the “most significant climate action in our country’s history” by Democratic US Senate leader Chuck Schumer and is a significant measure in reducing greenhouse gases.
Previously, Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos stressed the climate crisis to be “the biggest threat to our planet” and pledged that his businesses’ emissions would be net zero by 2040. Similarly, Microsoft and Disney both made pledges to be “carbon negative” and use renewable energy sources within a decade.
Yet, at a time where combating climate change is crucial, government watchdog group Accountable.US has found these major US corporations are supporting groups opposing this new climate bill. These lobbyist groups include The US Chamber of Commerce, The Rate Coalition, and The Business Roundtable. Defiance against the climate bill appears to stem from the proposal to raise taxes for the wealthy to fund projects involved.
The US Chamber of Commerce, whose board members include executives from Microsoft and United Airlines, has accused the bill of being a “tax raising, job killing reconciliation bill” and promised to “do everything we can to prevent this from becoming law”.
"Though these corporations appear to support the fight against climate change, this report questions their sincerity"
Similarly, both The Rate Coalition and The Business Roundtable object to the bill and are ‘deeply concerned’ about its taxing of the wealthy. The Rate Coalition members include Chief executives like Apple’s Tim Cook and The Business Roundtable includes members from Disney amongst other corporations. Both lobbyist groups have planned to release advertisements undermining the climate bill.
Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US has said: “Hiding behind these shady groups doesn’t just put our environment at risk – it puts these companies’ household names and reputations in serious jeopardy.”
Overall, though powerful US corporations such as Apple, Amazon, Disney, and Microsoft appear to support the fight against climate change, this report questions their sincerity.
So far, none of these companies have commented on the report.
