Press Release From Environmental Defense Fund.

Silicon Valley leaders today added their voice to a growing chorus of opposition to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s position on climate change, highlighting the growing rift between businesses and the Chamber over federal legislation to cap carbon emissions.

“No one can look at a Chamber executive and believe they speak for American businesses on climate change,” said David Yarnold, president of Environmental Defense Action Fund. “The Chamber is spoon-feeding Congress and the public a tired message that’s stuck in the past. Thousands of companies are ready to move on to a new energy future, and a number of them are leaving the Chamber to prove it.”

The chief executive officers of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and Joint Venture Silicon Valley today joined Environmental Defense Action Fund in a print advertising campaign calling on the U.S. Chamber to support a market-based cap on greenhouse gas emissions. The two Silicon Valley groups represent hundreds of leading U.S. companies in a range of sectors.

The ads run today in the San Jose Mercury News and in National Journal’s Congress Daily. The ad says, “It’s time for the “voice of American business” to move forward, embrace a market-based cap on carbon pollution, and help lead a new century of American prosperity …. If you won’t, other cutting edge companies are likely to move forward without you — and to speak out in favor of policies that help us create a new, healthy energy future.

Last week, Apple became the latest company to resign from the Chamber in light of its climate policies. In a letter to the Chamber’s president, Apple Vice President Catherine Novelli wrote, “Apple supports regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and it is frustrating to find the Chamber at odds with us in this effort.”

Other companies that have left the Chamber in recent weeks include Exelon, Pacific Gas and Electric, and PNM Resources. Nike has resigned from the Chamber’s board over its climate policies.

In June, the U.S. House of Representatives passed comprehensive energy and climate legislation, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which puts a declining cap on greenhouse gases, gives companies flexibility to invest in low-cost emissions reductions, and keeps utility rates low for consumers and small businesses. Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer unveiled the Senate version of a comprehensive climate bill in late September.

Chamber officials say they support action on climate change but have opposed every carbon cap proposal since 2003. Chamber Vice President William Kovacs recently provoked sharp rebukes from the business community when he called for new hearings on the science of climate change, saying it would be “the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century.”