Air con

After losing several high-profile members over irreconcilably different views on climate change, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce quickly launched a public campaign stressing that climate change is an issue worth addressing. Unfortunately, their less public written claims to the EPA, filed in response to the EPA’s report on the dangers of carbon dioxide, don’t quite reflect those newly feigned concerns. Not only did the CoC stick to their Republican-inspired denial of climate change science, they also argued that climate change is a good thing.

“Humans have become less susceptible to the effects of heat due to a combination of adaptations, particularly air conditioning,” reads one paragraph of the 86-page filing. The Chamber then goes on to argue that warmer temperatures would mean fewer cold-related deaths. Although quick to dismiss the science as applied to global warming, the Chamber has no problem citing it for their own purposes, concluding their message with the statement, “The scientific evidence is clear that cold is a more potent hazard than heat.”

The CoC has continuously fought against climate legislation, saying measures like greenhouse gas emission limits would “virtually destroy the United States.”

by SCOTT SAXON