Chamber of Commerce Suzanne Clark

The Center for Climate Integrity asserts that the Chamber of Commerce has known about the dangers of fossil fuels since the 1980s but spent decades sowing doubt about climate science. The statement highlights the Chamber's role in the Global Climate Coalition, its lobbying efforts to weaken EPA regulations, and its financial support for politicians who oppose climate action, including funding a study used to justify the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

• The Chamber of Commerce possessed knowledge of the link between fossil fuels and climate change as early as the 1980s. In 1989, official Harvey Alter gave a speech accurately predicting climate consequences such as drought in California, flooding in Bangladesh, and the spread of vector-borne disease, yet by 1991 the organization claimed that "genuine scientific disputes remain" regarding the existence and causes of global climate change.
• Between the Kyoto Protocol and the 2009 EPA Endangerment Finding, the Chamber used "sixteen unique discourses of delay" to promote skepticism about climate science and argue that climate action would damage the economy and jobs. The Chamber also served on the board of the Global Climate Coalition, which conducted a decade-long campaign to spread climate denial despite its own scientists confirming the consensus on dangerous global warming.
• The Chamber of Commerce has used its lobbying power to weaken U.S. climate policy and public health protections. Specific actions include lobbying to prevent the EPA from measuring how new fossil fuel infrastructure contributes to climate change, successfully opposing three moratoriums on offshore oil drilling, and opposing a resolution to nullify the repeal of the Clean Power Plan.
• The organization has provided significant financial and strategic support to oppose climate action, including spending nearly $150 million on Congressional candidates opposed to climate action since Citizens United. In 2017, the Chamber funded a misleading economic study on the costs of the Paris Agreement, which President Trump cited as a reason for U.S. withdrawal.

APA

Center for Climate Integrity (2021). Chamber of Commerce Suzanne Clark. https://climateintegrity.org/news/view/chamber-of-commerce-suzanne-clark

Chicago

Center for Climate Integrity. Chamber of Commerce Suzanne Clark. 2021. https://climateintegrity.org/news/view/chamber-of-commerce-suzanne-clark.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for Climate Integrity |title=Chamber of Commerce Suzanne Clark |date=6 October 2021 |url=https://climateintegrity.org/news/view/chamber-of-commerce-suzanne-clark |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforclimateintegrity2021chamber, author = {{Center for Climate Integrity}}, title = {{Chamber of Commerce Suzanne Clark}}, publisher = {Center for Climate Integrity}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://climateintegrity.org/news/view/chamber-of-commerce-suzanne-clark}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }