Global Climate Coalition

The Global Climate Coalition (1989–2002) was a group of mainly United States businesses opposing immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The group formed in response to several reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). A major scientific report on the severity of global warming by the IPCC in 2001 led to large-scale membership loss. Since 2002 the GCC has been defunct, or in its own words, "deactivated".

Mission

When it closed in 2002 it said its mission had been successfully achieved. To quote from their website:

• "The industry voice on climate change has served its purpose by contributing to a new national approach to global warming... The Bush administration will soon announce a climate policy that is expected to rely on the development of new technologies to reduce greenhouse emissions, a concept strongly supported by the GCC.
• "The coalition also opposed Senate ratification of the Kyoto Protocol that would assign such stringent targets for lowering greenhouse gas emissions that economic growth in the U.S. would be severely hampered and energy prices for consumers would skyrocket. The GCC also opposed the treaty because it does not require the largest developing countries to make cuts in their emissions... At this point, both Congress and the Administration agree that the U.S. should not accept the mandatory cuts in emissions required by the protocol.

History

The group was formed in 1989 response to several reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

A major scientific report on the severity of global warming by the IPCC in 2001 led to large-scale membership loss.

Benjamin D. Santer, a climate change researcher, wrote: "The Global Climate Coalition - a less than disinterested party - has made serious allegations regarding the scientific integrity of the Lead Authors of Chapter 8, and of the IPCC process itself."

In April 2009, the New York Times reported on a document revealed in court as part of a lawsuit. The document demonstrated that "even as the coalition worked to sway opinion, its own scientific and technical experts were advising that the science backing the role of greenhouse gases in global warming could not be refuted."

Losing members and the end

From 1997 a number of prominent members left. Dupont and British Petroleum left the coalition in 1997 and Shell Oil (US) left in 1998. In the year 2000, the rate of corporate members leaving accelerated when they became the target of a national divestiture campaign run by Phil Radford, at the time the Field Director of Ozone Action, an organization run by John Passacantando. According to the New York Times, when Ford Motor Company was the first company to leave the coalition, it was "the latest sign of divisions within heavy industry over how to respond to global warming." After that, between December, 1999 and early March, 2000, the GCC was deserted by Daimler-Chrysler, Texaco, the Southern Company and General Motors.

The organization closed in 2002, or in their own words, 'deactivated'.

Prominent members (to 1997)

Prominent members prior to 1997 included:

• The Aluminum Association
• American Highway Users Alliance
• British Petroleum
• DaimlerChrysler
• Exxon / Esso
• Ford Motor Company
• General Motors Corporation
• Shell Oil USA

Further reading

• Bob May, The Guardian, 27 January 2005, Under-informed

External links

• GCC homepage - No longer active as of March 2006; internet archive version