CLIMATE AND PROGRESSIVE LEADERS TO CEOS: ‘ARE YOU STILL IN?’

Groups Call Upon Business Roundtable CEOs Who Have Said They Are “All In” for Climate Action to Distance Themselves from Efforts to Kill the Build Back Better Act

Washington, D.C. – Today, the leaders of 33 organizations released an open letter to the CEOs of major corporations who have signed “Still in” pledges and publicly announced commitments to climate action. The letter calls on the CEOs to distance themselves from efforts to kill the Build Back Better Act, the best chance to reduce  climate pollution as the window for climate action closes.  Just declaring a commitment to bold climate action is not enough; these leaders must live up to their climate promises.

In their capacity as members of the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, these companies must call for Congress to take urgent action on the passage of immediate climate investments through the Build Back Better Act.

“Now, we are writing to you at a defining moment for our country and the planet,” the letter reads. “We have a question for you, and you have a choice to make: Are you still in?”

“While we know you have pledged to fight for climate action, you are also connected to a massive effort to sabotage and gut the critically important set of climate investments embodied in the President’s Build Back Better budget through your membership in the Business Roundtable and for many of you, your membership in, and continued financial support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,” the letter continues. 

“There is no time to waste in distancing yourself from these efforts.” 

The full text of the letter is below and can be found here: 

An open letter to the CEOs of Business Roundtable members who have said they are “All In” for Climate Action* 

TO: Mike Roman, 3M; Shantanu Narayen, Adobe; Sundar Pichai, Alphabet Inc.; Andy Jassy, Amazon; Tim Cook, Apple; James Quincey, The Coca-Cola Company; Michael Dell, Dell Technologies; Pedro J. Pizarro, Edison International; Sonia Syngal, Gap Inc.; Enrique Lores, HP Inc.; George Oliver, Johnson Controls; Alex Gorsky, Johnson & Johnson; David Kohler, Kohler Co.; Chip Bergh, Levi Strauss & Co.; Satya Nadella, Microsoft Corporation; Ted Sarandos, Netflix; John Donahoe, Nike, Inc.; Dan Schulman, PayPal; Ramon Laguarta, PepsiCo; Patrice Louvet, Ralph Lauren Corporation; Marc Benioff, Salesforce; James P. Keane, Steelcase Inc.; Doug McMillon, Walmart; Aneel Bhusri, Workday:

As CEOs of major corporations, you understand the devastating impacts that the climate crisis is having across the country and the economic perils of inaction. Even as the federal government left the Paris Agreement on June 5, 2017, you joined forces with mayors and local officials, governors and tribal leaders, colleges and universities, faith communities, investors, and others to demonstrate and declare your commitment to bold climate action. 

Many of you called on the United States to adopt the ambitious and attainable target of cutting GHG emissions by at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030. Others have called on the federal government to “undertake the necessary actions to achieve a 100% clean energy power sector as soon as feasible” Shoulder to shoulder with other local and institutional leaders, you signed a pledge to “support these policies at the national and local level, and place climate considerations at the core of our own institutions: how we do business, how we invest, how we govern, how we educate, how we serve.”

Now, we are writing to you at a defining moment for our country and the planet. We have a question for you, and you have a choice to make: Are you still in? 

The current window for transformative federal action on climate is slim, and if we miss it, it may not reopen. Families across the country will face even more devastating droughts, wildfires, super storms, and flooding. America’s financial and economic well-being will suffer too.

Congress has an opportunity to modernize and revitalize our economy and put us on a clear path to cutting climate pollution in half by 2030 with the Build Back Better Act. 

While we know you have pledged to fight for climate action, you are also connected to a massive effort to sabotage and gut the critically important set of climate investments embodied in the President’s Build Back Better budget through your membership in the Business Roundtable and for many of you, your membership in, and continued financial support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

There is no time to waste in distancing yourself from these efforts. As a member of the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, you must step in, call for the passage of immediate climate investments through the Build Back Better Act, and publicly break with their campaign to undermine our best chance to take meaningful climate action at the federal level. 

We are asking you to live up to your climate commitments when it matters the most. Together, we can tackle the climate crisis, address environmental injustice, create millions of good paying jobs, and protect our children’s future as well as our nation’s security, prosperity, and health.  

Sincerely, 

LaTricea Adams, President, Black Millennials 4 Flint

Margie Alt, Campaign Director, Climate Action Campaign

Manish Bapna, President and CEO, Natural Resources Defense Council 

Elizabeth Bast, Executive Director, Oil Change International

Rebecca Linder Blachly, Director of Government Relations, The Episcopal Church

Michael Brune, Executive Director, Sierra Club

Gary Cohen, President, Health Care Without Harm

Rev. Nathan Empsall, Executive Director, Faithful America

George Goehl, Director, People’s Action

Jon Goldin-Dubois, President, Western Resource Advocates

Michael Hansen, Executive Director, GASP

Susan Hendershot, President, Interfaith Power and Light

Gene Karpinski, President, League of Conservation Voters

Johanna Chao Kreilick, CEO, Union of Concerned Scientists 

Lori Lodes, Executive Director, Climate Power

Mark Magaña, Founding President & CEO of GreenLatinos

Maurice Mitchell, National Director, Working Families Party 

Michael Noble, Executive Director, Fresh Energy

Faye Park, President, U.S. PIRG

Theresa Pierno, President and CEO, National Parks Conservation Association

John Podesta, Founder, Center for American Progress

Varshini Prakash, Executive Director, Sunrise Movement

Andrew Reagan, Executive Director, Clean Energy for America

Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, Founder & CEO, Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action

Joe Salazar, Executive Director, Colorado Rising

Gregg Small, Executive Director, Climate Solutions

Stephen A. Smith, DVM, Executive Director, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

Daniel L. Sosland, President, Acadia Center

Mike Tidwell, Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network

Ean Thomas Tafoya, Co-Founder and Board President, Headwaters Protectors

Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers

Robert Weissman, President, Public Citizen

Wendy Wendlandt, President, Environment America