Major Corporations Hypocritically Undermine Climate Action by Backing Anti-BBB Coalitions

Washington, D.C. — New reporting in The Guardian today reveals that several leading U.S. businesses including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Disney are backing groups spending millions to fight the landmark climate bill wrapped into the reconciliation bill. While these companies and their leaders proudly claim to be environmental stewards that support combatting climate change, their money tells a different story as they back the business coalitions working to undermine the nation’s “biggest climate change bill ever.” 

“Major corporations love to tell us how committed they are to addressing the climate crisis and building a sustainable future, but behind closed doors, they are funding the very industry trade groups that are fighting tooth and nail to stop the biggest climate change bill ever,” said Kyle Herrig, president of government watchdog Accountable.US. “Hiding behind these shady groups doesn’t just put our environment at risk – it puts these companies’ household names and reputations in serious jeopardy.” 

As lawmakers work to push through Biden’s widely-popular Build Back Better plan to make critical investments in child care, education, and climate action, corporations must put their money where their mouth is and ensure they are living up to their publicly-stated values.  

See the full analysis of more than 50 major companies from Accountable.US here.  

KEY POINTS FROM THE GUARDIAN: 

• “Most large US corporations have expressed concern over the climate crisis or announced their own goals to cut greenhouse gases. … But these leading companies, and others, either support or actively steer the very lobby groups that are attempting to sink the bill that carries the weight of Joe Biden’s ambitions to tackle the climate crisis, threatening one of the last major legislative efforts that will help decide whether parts of the world plunge into a new, barely livable climatic state.”
   
• “The US Chamber of Commerce has vowed to ‘do everything we can to prevent this tax raising, job killing reconciliation bill from becoming law’. The leading business lobby group’s board includes executives from companies including Microsoft, Intuit, United Airlines and Deloitte, which have all expressed concern over climate change – Deloitte even includes teaching the climate crisis to employees in its staff training – and have made various promises to reduce emissions.”
   
• “The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group that includes Bayer and AstraZeneca among its members, has run adverts attacking the proposed bill. The Rate Coalition, another lobby group that has Disney, FedEx and Verizon as members, is also planning an advertising blitz to help kill off the legislation while the National Association of Manufacturers – backed by Johnson&Johnson, Dow and Goodyear – has said it is attempting to upend the bill ‘in every way you can imagine’.”

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