09-23-09 by dugan
Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s departure from the national Chamber of Commerce is a strong message, one that more middle-of-the-road corporations ought to hear. The Chamber, claiming to represent all of U.S. business, still denies global warming and seeks to undercut the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency. PG&E, California’s largest private utility company, sent a bigger message than other dissident members by just quitting. Nike has also filed a strong objection to the Chamber’s troglodyte lobbying stance. It didn’t quit, perhaps because a Nike vice president is on the Chamber’s board of directors–but it should grow a spine and walk out now.
(The chamber also objects to any effective regulation of financial companies–the Wall Street gamblers, including energy traders, that that dumped us into recession. Where’s the corporate objection to that?)
The chamber doesn’t disclose its members, but it posts a list of members of its (very big) board of directors, the members responsible for making policy. Here’s a link to that list. The single most shocking membership is the American Medical Association, whose doctor-members know full well the disease consequences of global warming. Here are the AMA phone numbers: (800) 621-8335 (main number) (312) 464-4430 (press office, a number likely to have a human answering it) or (202) 789-7447 (Washington lobbying office, probably the most effective place to call). No wonder doctors are leaving the AMA in droves.
Below are members of the board from major consumer-product and service companies. They have no business being in a group that thinks the interests of business trump the science of global warming–and the harm it will do to generations that come after us. Or a group that would continue to let Wall Street trump the good of ordinary Americans.
Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE
President & CEO
National Association of
Chain Drug Stores
Alexandria, VA
Richard H. Bagger
Senior Vice President
Pfizer Inc.
New York, NY
James C. Carter
Vice President, General Counsel
Nike, Inc.
Beaverton, OR
James W. Cicconi
Senior Executive Vice President
External and Legislative Affairs
AT&T
Washington, DC
Marcel Dubois
Vice President, Corporate Public Affairs
United Parcel Service
Washington, DC
Michael L. Ducker
President
International
FedEx Express
Memphis, TN
Timothy C. Everett
Vice President and Secretary
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Irving, TX
Lynn L. Franzoi
Senior Vice President, Benefits
Fox Entertainment Group
Los Angeles, CA
Richard Frasch
Senior Vice President
Cargill, Inc.
Wayzata, MN
C.A. Howlett
Senior Vice President – Public Affairs
US Airways
Phoenix, AZ
Jan L. Jones
President of Government Relations
and Communications
Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.
Las Vegas, NV
David E. Kepler
Executive Vice President, Business Services Group
Chief Sustainability Officer
Chief Information Officer
The Dow Chemical Company
Midland, MI
Mark Loughridge
Senior Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
IBM Corporation
Armonk, NY
Robert D. MacDonald
Senior Vice President
Marketing and Sales
3M
St. Paul, MN
David Peacock
President
Anheuser-Busch Companies
St. Louis, MO
Joseph M. Rigby
Chairman of the Board, President and CEO
PEPCO Holdings Inc.
Washington, DC
James E. Rutrough
Vice Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer
State Farm Insurance Companies
Bloomington, IL
Douglas A. Sgarro
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer
CVS Caremark Corporation
Woonsocket, RI
Paul S. Speranza, Jr., Esq.
Vice Chairman, General Counsel and Secretary
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.
Rochester, NY
Steve Van Andel
Chairman
Amway
Ada, MI