Affiliate Disclosure
If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Read our ethics policy.

Apple-backed lobbying groups accused of fighting climate legislation

Watchdog claims unspecified groups, including some backed by Apple and Microsoft, are opposing President Biden's $3.5 trillion budget bill to combat climate change.

Non-partisan group Accountable.US says that the Democrats' bill is the target of corporate lobby groups and other organizations. According to The Guardian, these groups feature prominent US companies including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Disney.

"Major corporations love to tell us how committed they are to addressing the climate crisis and building a sustainable future," Accountable.US president Kyle Herrig told the newspaper, "but behind closed doors, they are funding the very industry trade groups that are fighting tooth and nail to stop the biggest climate change bill ever."

Accountable.US has separately reported on Apple profiting from tax breaks instigated by President Trump, and concluded that it is now lobbying to keep them.

Neither The Guardian, nor Accountable.US, have detailed Apple's active part in the lobby groups, nor established what those groups are, if there is a voting structure, or how the decision-making works for the lobbyist groups. Accountable.US has separately linked Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) to the US Chamber of Commerce PAC, but chiefly refers only to groups representing "corporate interests."

Watch the Latest from AppleInsider TV

The Guardian says that one such group is the Business Roundtable. It notes that this organization is made up of company CEOs, including Apple's Tim Cook.

Apple has not commented on the report. It has recently, however, claimed that it hopes its environmental efforts will lead other firms to do the same.

"You need businesses that are proactive, that are continuing to push forward, and really view it as a priority," said Alisha Johnson, lead of Apple's Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, "not just as a PR statement, but in the execution of their work."

25 Comments

DAalseth 7 Years · 3271 comments

Neither The Guardian
, nor Accountable.US, have detailed Apple's active part in the lobby groups, nor established what those groups are, if there is a voting structure, or how the decision-making works for the lobbyist groups

So a "watchdog" group that operates in the shadows, claims unspecified "lobbyist groups" that may or may not be backed by large corporations including Apple are pressuring Congress in some way. 

Uh...yeah.

The irony is the name of the "watchdog" is Accountable, when I see little evidence that they in fact are. Who are they? Who is paying their bills? Who do they work for? What is THEIR agenda?

Now I don't doubt that there are some groups trying to lobby Congress on this bill, both to strengthen it and weaken it. That's how this sort of thing works. But this smells more like a hatchet job from a group trying to make a name for themselves. Call me when someone I can trust, or at least that I've heard of, ever, issues a report with some actual evidence to back it up. 

5 Likes · 0 Dislikes
F_Kent_D 7 Years · 98 comments

They’re opposing the bill because it’s full of garbage. Besides, it’s not being called a climate change bill it’s being called an infrastructure bill, get the topic of the article correct. It doesn’t do what it claims it will and it’s far more than $3.5T at the end of the day. Good for them. A Libtard whoever Senator or whatever he is threw a page in that lays out groundwork for our government to bankrupt any business that doesn’t follow Biden’s vaccination mandate by fining any company $700,000/employee that’s not vaccinated. That’s asinine! How is this infrastructure? How does this help our “Roads and bridges”? I call good on them and I call BS on this pork filled bill. 

10 Likes · 0 Dislikes
TheObannonFile 8 Years · 113 comments

F_Kent_D said:
They’re opposing the bill because it’s full of garbage. Besides, it’s not being called a climate change bill it’s being called an infrastructure bill, get the topic of the article correct. It doesn’t do what it claims it will and it’s far more than $3.5T at the end of the day. Good for them. A Libtard whoever Senator or whatever he is threw a page in that lays out groundwork for our government to bankrupt any business that doesn’t follow Biden’s vaccination mandate by fining any company $700,000/employee that’s not vaccinated. That’s asinine! How is this infrastructure? How does this help our “Roads and bridges”? I call good on them and I call BS on this pork filled bill. 

Truth

3 Likes · 0 Dislikes
AI_lias 9 Years · 437 comments

Corporations usually put up a veneer of social responsibility that's highly visible, while in the background lobbying for all kinds of things that eclipse the public social responsibility plays. This applied to Apple, and it applies to its privacy marketing theme also. 

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes
lkrupp 20 Years · 10521 comments

Yet another clickbait headline from AppleInsider. Read the article and the headline does not match the content. it’s all conclusions, allegations, hearsay. Bottom line? It’s a political attack carried out by climate change radicals, pure and simple.

3 Likes · 0 Dislikes