Duke Energy Quits The Right-Wing National Association Of Manufacturers
Over Differences On Climate Policy


The National Association of Manufacturers is a right-wing trade
organization that refuses to address — or even acknowledge — man-made
global warming. Last month, it protested the EPA’s decision to regulate
greenhouse gas emissions, stating that the “clean air laws” are supposed
to only focus on “local pollutants.” It has also funded climate change
denier groups and heavily lobbied against any efforts to curb emissions.

The organization’s resistance to change is getting to be too much for
its members. Today, Bloomberg reports that Duke Energy Corp., which owns
utilities in the Southeast and Midwest, announced that it won’t be
renewing its membership with NAM, in part because of NAM’s refusal to
address global warming:

“We are not renewing our membership in the NAM because in tough times,
we want to invest in associations that are pulling in the same direction
we are,” Duke Chief Executive Officer Jim Rogers said last month in an
interview. The association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Republicans
“ought to roll up their sleeves and get to work on a climate bill, but
quite frankly, I don’t see them changing.”

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Duke is a founding member of the United
States Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of business and
environmental groups that seeks to influence legislation on greenhouse
gases linked to global warming. The National Association of
Manufacturers has opposed mandatory controls, arguing they will harm the
economy.

A Duke spokesman also said that the company would like to see
cap-and-trade legislation “happen this year if possible.”