Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Sheldon Whitehouse
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse delivered a stern message to U.S. corporate trade associations at COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland: trade associations are undercutting the work of “climate-friendly” CEOs.
“We’d have made much greater progress in Congress if corporate trade associations weren’t absent or obstacles,” said Whitehouse. “When the American Petroleum Institute has engaged more on carbon pricing than just about any trade association, that’s a powerful signal of how weak American corporate trade associations are.”
Many of the nation’s largest corporations have thoughtful internal climate policies, but pay dues to powerful trade groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that aggressively lobby against meaningful emissions reductions measures. Whitehouse has regularly called out the difference between what corporations tell the world about their climate aspirations and what their lobbyists and trade associations tell Congress.
Whitehouse will arrive home in Rhode Island later today.