Several corporations recently cancelled their membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over differing views on cap-and-trade legislation. The Chamber of Commerce wants to pursue a rational debate [1] over the direction the nation should take on climate change legislation. Corporations like Nike, Apple and Exelon subsequently left the Chamber of Commerce for a number of reasons. “Saving the planet” is probably not one of them.
As it happens, Al Gore is a member of the board [2] of Apple, and Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook [3], sits on the board of Nike [4]. So it should be fairly obvious why Nike and Apple are supporting [5] cap-and-trade. Nike’s and Apple’s manufacturing bases also lie mostly outside the United States and would be unaffected by a cap-and-trade program. Thus, both Nike and Apple can project a “green” image for their young, environmentally conscious consumers and gain a market advantage by supporting a program that could hinder their U.S.-based competitors.
Other companies, like Exelon, are simply waiting to feed from the government-imposed cap-and-trade money trough. Exelon is the biggest nuclear power operator in the country, and Exelon’s CEO John Rowe is endorsing cap-and-trade [6] in order to cash in on the numerous subsidies and market manipulations currently written into the Senate climate bill [7], which could boost Exelon’s profits by $1.1 billion [8] (39 percent).
Apparently, it’s easy being “green,” when “green” means government-guaranteed profiteering and rent-seeking [8].
Cascade Policy Institute [9], Oregon’s free market public policy research organization.