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It looked - at first - eerily like
a routine news event. A man in a nondescript dark suit standing at a
podium in one of the smaller meeting rooms on the 13th floor of the
National Press Club. But then suddenly it wasn't.
"There
is only one way to do business and that is to pass a climate bill
quickly so this December President Obama can go to Copenhagen and
negotiate with a strong position," said the speaker - who said he
represented the US Chamber of Commerce.
The statement represented a complete repudiation of the Chamber's earlier opposition to climate change legislation. The hard line had triggered walk-outs from Apple
and a handful of other high-profile companies in the past few weeks.
The companies are trying to press the business organisation to support
the bill by the senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer that is to be
debated by the Senate next week.
Or maybe not. Barely 20
minutes into the Q&A section of the press conference, an agitated
spokesman for the Chamber burst into the room, screaming that the event
was a hoax.
In today's instant news era, that wasn't quite soon enough. Several green organisations tweeted or blogged on the about-face. Reuters news agency put out a straight news story about the Chamber's
apparent U-turn, and the Washington Post and New York Times put the story on their news sites (both later removed the stories from their websites). CNBC actually sought - and got - comment from analysts. It also broke its programming to have a reporter read out the fake press release.
The spoof got under way with a press release inviting journalists to a morning news conference. Most reporters overlooked the misspelling of the Chamber president's name.
The phony spokesman said the Chamber was not happy with the bill before the Senate and would push for a carbon tax - not the greenest of positions. But he added: "If cap and trade is all we can get we have to take it so at least we can have something to put in President Obama's hands when he goes to Copenhagen."
He went out even further on a limb when he called clean coal "a hoax", saying the money would be better spent on solar energy research. "Clean technology has not only not been proven. It basically
doesn't exist," he said.
It was about that time, the real Chamber spokesman burst into the room - and had a mild shoving match at the podium. "What happened today was a fraud and I believe illegal,"
Eric Wohlschlegel said. The spokesman said he learned of the hoax when a reporter came to the Chamber office looking for the press conference. Wohlschlegel said he immediately leaped into a taxi.
The spoof appears to be the work of the Avaaz Action Factory, which put a post on its website promising to "make this the worst Monday ever for the anti-climate PR machine at the US chamber of
commerce".
And while a number of reporters still pressed
Wohlschlegel for signs of a shift in the Chamber's position, he soon
set them straight. The Chamber was as opposed to climate change legislation as ever.
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
It looked - at first - eerily like
a routine news event. A man in a nondescript dark suit standing at a
podium in one of the smaller meeting rooms on the 13th floor of the
National Press Club. But then suddenly it wasn't.
"There
is only one way to do business and that is to pass a climate bill
quickly so this December President Obama can go to Copenhagen and
negotiate with a strong position," said the speaker - who said he
represented the US Chamber of Commerce.
The statement represented a complete repudiation of the Chamber's earlier opposition to climate change legislation. The hard line had triggered walk-outs from Apple
and a handful of other high-profile companies in the past few weeks.
The companies are trying to press the business organisation to support
the bill by the senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer that is to be
debated by the Senate next week.
Or maybe not. Barely 20
minutes into the Q&A section of the press conference, an agitated
spokesman for the Chamber burst into the room, screaming that the event
was a hoax.
In today's instant news era, that wasn't quite soon enough. Several green organisations tweeted or blogged on the about-face. Reuters news agency put out a straight news story about the Chamber's
apparent U-turn, and the Washington Post and New York Times put the story on their news sites (both later removed the stories from their websites). CNBC actually sought - and got - comment from analysts. It also broke its programming to have a reporter read out the fake press release.
The spoof got under way with a press release inviting journalists to a morning news conference. Most reporters overlooked the misspelling of the Chamber president's name.
The phony spokesman said the Chamber was not happy with the bill before the Senate and would push for a carbon tax - not the greenest of positions. But he added: "If cap and trade is all we can get we have to take it so at least we can have something to put in President Obama's hands when he goes to Copenhagen."
He went out even further on a limb when he called clean coal "a hoax", saying the money would be better spent on solar energy research. "Clean technology has not only not been proven. It basically
doesn't exist," he said.
It was about that time, the real Chamber spokesman burst into the room - and had a mild shoving match at the podium. "What happened today was a fraud and I believe illegal,"
Eric Wohlschlegel said. The spokesman said he learned of the hoax when a reporter came to the Chamber office looking for the press conference. Wohlschlegel said he immediately leaped into a taxi.
The spoof appears to be the work of the Avaaz Action Factory, which put a post on its website promising to "make this the worst Monday ever for the anti-climate PR machine at the US chamber of
commerce".
And while a number of reporters still pressed
Wohlschlegel for signs of a shift in the Chamber's position, he soon
set them straight. The Chamber was as opposed to climate change legislation as ever.
It looked - at first - eerily like
a routine news event. A man in a nondescript dark suit standing at a
podium in one of the smaller meeting rooms on the 13th floor of the
National Press Club. But then suddenly it wasn't.
"There
is only one way to do business and that is to pass a climate bill
quickly so this December President Obama can go to Copenhagen and
negotiate with a strong position," said the speaker - who said he
represented the US Chamber of Commerce.
The statement represented a complete repudiation of the Chamber's earlier opposition to climate change legislation. The hard line had triggered walk-outs from Apple
and a handful of other high-profile companies in the past few weeks.
The companies are trying to press the business organisation to support
the bill by the senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer that is to be
debated by the Senate next week.
Or maybe not. Barely 20
minutes into the Q&A section of the press conference, an agitated
spokesman for the Chamber burst into the room, screaming that the event
was a hoax.
In today's instant news era, that wasn't quite soon enough. Several green organisations tweeted or blogged on the about-face. Reuters news agency put out a straight news story about the Chamber's
apparent U-turn, and the Washington Post and New York Times put the story on their news sites (both later removed the stories from their websites). CNBC actually sought - and got - comment from analysts. It also broke its programming to have a reporter read out the fake press release.
The spoof got under way with a press release inviting journalists to a morning news conference. Most reporters overlooked the misspelling of the Chamber president's name.
The phony spokesman said the Chamber was not happy with the bill before the Senate and would push for a carbon tax - not the greenest of positions. But he added: "If cap and trade is all we can get we have to take it so at least we can have something to put in President Obama's hands when he goes to Copenhagen."
He went out even further on a limb when he called clean coal "a hoax", saying the money would be better spent on solar energy research. "Clean technology has not only not been proven. It basically
doesn't exist," he said.
It was about that time, the real Chamber spokesman burst into the room - and had a mild shoving match at the podium. "What happened today was a fraud and I believe illegal,"
Eric Wohlschlegel said. The spokesman said he learned of the hoax when a reporter came to the Chamber office looking for the press conference. Wohlschlegel said he immediately leaped into a taxi.
The spoof appears to be the work of the Avaaz Action Factory, which put a post on its website promising to "make this the worst Monday ever for the anti-climate PR machine at the US chamber of
commerce".
And while a number of reporters still pressed
Wohlschlegel for signs of a shift in the Chamber's position, he soon
set them straight. The Chamber was as opposed to climate change legislation as ever.