Josh Harkinson did some great reporting at Mother Jones on six ostensibly green companies that remain members of the United States Chamber of Commerce despite its extreme position on climate change. The six companies Josh looked at are PNC Financial Services, Alpha Technologies, Duke Energy, Siemens Corporation, General Electric and Johnson & Johnson.

PNC told Josh:

“It is unlikely that we would have anything to say about that at this moment,” said PNC spokesman Fred Solomon. “I think you are fishing for information that isn’t the kind of thing you’re going to get out of PNC.”

I followed up with Mr. Solomon, VP of Corporate Communications, hoping to elicit more of a response:

I was wondering if you have a statement on how you reconcile the statement on your website saying PNC is “one of the most active companies in the nation when it comes to doing good for the environment” with your role in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Are you considering leaving the Chamber?

What is PNC’s position on the Chamber’s repeated attacks on climate legislation before Congress?

Here is his response (via email):

This is one issue among many that we balance every day in service to our customers, shareholders and communities. PNC has an established environmental record as a leader in green building. We have constructed more new buildings LEED-certified by the United States Green Building Council than any company on Earth. In fact, our commitment to building green extends back more than a decade.

Our environmental leadership is well-documented. We do not comment on the statements or actions of individuals and organizations not employed by PNC, nor would we speculate about the future of our relationship with the U.S. Chamber.

More on this later.