The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s decision to endorse a host of centrist House Democrats from fossil fuel states could provide the business group leverage to temper aggressive climate change legislation in a Joe Biden administration.
Some centrist Democrats in tight reelection races whom the Chamber is planning to endorse, such as Rep. Kendra Horn of Oklahoma, have suggested they are not on board with a top-down Biden approach to climate change. The Chamber’s endorsement of members, including Horn, is designed to encourage them to work with Republicans to hold the line, according to lobbyists and energy industry officials.
“The Chamber is acknowledging that the Democrats are nearly certain to retain control of the House and that a Biden win is likely, so having a few Democrat allies on the Hill is beneficial to their cause,” said Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor and CEO of the oil services company Canary. “I suspect the ultimate aim of the Chamber is to ensure Republicans plus some Democrats equals a pro-fossil fuel majority in the lower chamber.”
The Chamber, long viewed by Democrats as a barrier to climate-related legislation, has recently shifted its message on climate change, identifying the issue as a problem that businesses are working to combat.
The Chamber’s Global Energy Institute launched a campaign last year to persuade the public and Congress that regulation is an inferior alternative to federal spending to help companies develop clean energy technologies, such as carbon capture for coal and natural gas plants, battery storage, and small nuclear reactors.
But the Chamber opposes carbon taxes and more sweeping ideas favored by Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress, who have proposed using mandates, regulations, and massive federal spending to support renewable energy and reduce fossil fuel use.
Democrats are aiming to pass major climate legislation in early 2021 of a Biden administration.
There could be some centrist holdouts for the picking, however, including some Democrats selected for endorsements by the Chamber.
“There is a recognition the Democratic Party’s energy and environmental policy is becoming more radicalized, more anti-fossil fuels, more anti-business,” said a House Republican aide. “They are looking to cultivate relationships to help mitigate what’s happening.”
In addition to Horn, centrist Democrats from fossil fuel states who will receive Chamber endorsements include first-term Reps. Lizzie Fletcher of Texas, Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico, and Joe Cunningham of South Carolina, according to a leaked internal memo from the group.
The Chamber said it is not prepared to comment on the reported endorsements of House Democrats.
Horn, Fletcher, Torres Small, and Cunningham all have not signed onto the liberal Green New Deal.
Torres Small says in a new ad that she “stood up to members of my own party who want to ban fracking.”
Horn and Fletcher supported a Trump administration proposal blocked by Democratic leaders to buy oil to restock the nation’s emergency Strategy Petroleum Reserve as a way to help the industry grapple with the pandemic-fueled price crash.
Horn said she does not support plans proposed by Biden and House Democratic leaders to eliminate carbon emissions from the power sector within 15 or 20 years through a clean electricity standard, or mandate.
“The Chamber recognizes my sensible, thoughtful approach to policy, business, and job creation and I am very proud of that recognition,” Horn told the Washington Examiner in an interview. “It’s important we have voices like mine at the table.”
Scott Segal, a lobbyist with the firm Bracewell, notes the Chamber has historically embraced some Democrats, endorsing and even running ads for several members from fossil fuel states in 2010.
“Given that lots of regulatory and business issues can be more regional than strictly partisan, all groups are well advised to work both sides of the political aisle,” Segal said. “That’s what the Chamber is doing and has done in the past.”
During the 2016 cycle, the Chamber, for the first time, donated money only to Republican candidates.
Since President Trump’s election in 2016, however, the Chamber and congressional Republicans have often sparred over political issues, including trade and immigration reform.
The Chamber is largely in sync with congressional Republicans on the private sector innovation-focused agenda for combating climate change.
Nonetheless, if Democrats win full control of Congress and the White House, the Chamber needs to stay relevant and at the table in climate policy discussions.
“It’s not very good for them to be seen as completely partisan when we may be on the verge of a wave election that brings Democratic majorities and in the White House,” said Paul Bledsoe, strategic adviser at the Progressive Policy Institute, who belongs to the executive council of Clean Energy for Biden, a group raising money for the Democratic nominee.
Mike McKenna, a former Trump administration legislative aide and a fossil fuel lobbyist, countered the Chamber is unwise to ally with Democrats when the party’s left wing is ascendant.
“I’ll give the Chamber 100 bucks for each one of their Democrats that votes against the Biden tax increase or the climate/ infrastructure plan on final passage,” McKenna said.
Bledsoe argues the Chamber, rather than looking to stymie aggressive climate legislation, could find itself aligned with Biden and Democrats who want to spend big on clean energy early in 2021 as part of a stimulus package focused on bolstering U.S. infrastructure.
“There is a maturing of business attitudes toward climate policy and a recognition of the real threats climate poses to American prosperity and industry,” Bledsoe said. “The Chamber has been behind infrastructure consistently over the last several years and would support many aspects of a Biden energy agenda.”
