U.S. Chamber of Commerce Reacts to Apple's Withdrawal Over Climate Change Policies

Quit whining. Sure you can support climate change and oppose a bill, but everyone knows that a step in the right direction for the environment is better then no step at all. With that being said, everyone knows that the Waxman bill is no in the best interest of cheap U.S. business.

No, the Waxman bill is in the best interest of cheap Chinese business. Where was your Mac made?

Quit whining. Sure you can support climate change and oppose a bill, but everyone knows that a step in the right direction for the environment is better then no step at all. With that being said, everyone knows that the Waxman bill is no in the best interest of cheap U.S. business.

Unless that step hurts American business and gives companies even more incentive to ship jobs overseas...

Sorry, don't want to feel like I'm misquoting you. There just needs to be a balance between steps to that right direction and American business... So no, a wee step in the right direction isn't always best.

No, the Waxman bill is in the best interest of cheap Chinese business. Where was your Mac made?

Only 38% of Apple's emissions are from manufacturing. Quit lying.

If Apple really cared about the environment, they'd pull out of China, and not the US Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber of Commerce is nothing but a politically corrupt entity that only looks out for big business interests and could care less about the environment so much so, that they lie about Global Warming itself. I'm glad Apple did what it did, and hope others do the same thing.

Their pathetic reaction doesn't surprise me at all...

Here's a great summary of what the US Chamber of Commerce is, or was supposed to be:

U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a powerful business lobbying group in the United States, "used to be a trade association that advocated in a bipartisan manner for narrowly tailored policies to benefit its members. Since 1997 or so, it has become a fully functional part of the partisan Republican machine," with CEO and president Thomas J. Donohue "raising its budget to $150M a year from corporate chiefs satisfied with his ability to move policy through a Republican Congress," Matt Stoller wrote December 13, 2006, at MyDD.

The Chamber claims on its website that its mission is to "advance human progress through an economic, political and social system based on individual freedom, incentive, initiative, opportunity, and responsibility." It describes itself as "the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region."

However, the Chamber is "dominated by oil companies, pharmaceutical giants, automakers and other polluting industries," according to James Carter, executive director of the Green Chamber of Commerce.

If Apple really cared about the environment, they'd pull out of China, and not the US Chamber of Commerce.

I agree... Apple is penalizing American business and patronizing Chinese polluters by their petty spat with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce... Green Hell Blog has more pertinent detail on this topic including comparing photo illustrations of air quality of Apple HQ in Cuppertino, CA compared to the pollution in Shenzhen, China where Apple products are manufactured.

Does Apple wish to really compare our air quality with China's air quality? By its action Apple is rewarding China and penalizing United States...

I gladly welcome any company taking a stance against any committee that actually believes in the myth of global warming and/or that human behavior could actually play any role in the potential progression of any such possible warming phenomenon if it indeed existed.

However, of course, it still is wise to be ecologically conscious - esp when it comes to product design involving hazardous chemicals or recyclable resources. And Apple has done quite well - especially recently on both.

I don't think you want Apple to pull out of China as some have suggested, unless you want to pay triple what you pay now for a Macintosh computer, which is already twice what comparible PC systems cost. Like it or not, the US and China are economically locked together and neither can risk breaking away from the other.

Not knowing much about the Chamber, I looked them up. I don't understand how a group that represents businesses "fighting for your business", is against minimum wage hikes. For a conservative learning advocacy group, I was surprised to learn that their stance is neutral on abortion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Chamber_of_Commerce