Tom Donahue, remember him? He’s the controversial President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose opposition to cap-and-trade lead to a mass exodus of key and powerful members, including Pacific Gas and Electric and Exelon.
Donahue is stubborn. In a speech yesterday, outlining the Chamber’s 2010 political strategy, he said that the various renewable energy legislation making their way through the Senate would actually eliminate jobs.
Donahue said:
We’ll also support strong climate change policy, both domestic legislation and a global agreement. But the bill passed by the House last year would tie economic activity in knots and eliminate jobs from one end of the country to another.
Watch:
Media Matters for America, a progressive media watchdog in Washington, could not let these latest claim pass without a rebuttal.
And so in an effective fact check, Media Matters — citing a recent study from the University of California Berkeley — found that pollution reduction and energy efficiency legislation will actually create up to 1.9 million jobs and would add $111 billion to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. It also notes that every state will gain jobs from investment in clean energy technologies.