Apple, Microsoft, Disney And Amazon Lobby Against Climate Bill: Report

Apple Inc. AAPL, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, Microsoft Corporation MSFT and Walt Disney Co DIS are among the firms lobbying against a U.S. bill that among its many elements, also deals with climate change.  

What Happened: On Friday, a Computing report stated these companies support corporate lobby groups attempting to block climate legislation in the U.S.

The Biden administration is trying to pass the $3.5 trillion spending package called the "Build Back Better Act" that includes objectives that tackle climate change. The legislation would introduce a tax on methane gas, an expansion of tax credits for renewables and electric vehicles, and a push for utilities to use clean energy. The measures could allegedly lower the United States' greenhouse gas emissions by up to 936 million tons by 2030 — which is 14% of 2019's total emissions.

Amazon promised to cut its emissions down to zero by 2040 and Microsoft pledged to be "carbon negative" by 2030, while Apple is trying aiming to become carbon neutral by 2030. Despite all of those pledges and promises, these firms support lobby groups that oppose what U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer described as "the most important climate action in our country's history."

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce vowed to do "everything" in its power to make sure the bill does not become law and includes on its board executives from firms including Microsoft, Deloitte, United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL and Intuit Inc. INTU.

Similarly, the Business Roundtable described its sentiment as being "deeply concerned" about this bill becoming law, since it would increase the taxes imposed on the wealthy. 

Business Roundtable President and CEO Joshua Bolten claimed that the measures would "put millions of American jobs at risk, stunt wage growth, suppress business investment and innovation" and even "once again make American companies more susceptible to foreign takeovers." He suggested that members of the Ways and Means Committee and the broader House of Representatives should "stand up for American businesses and workers and reject these anti-competitive tax policies."

Business Roundtable's board includes high-profile CEO such as Apple's Tim Cook, Amazon's Andy Jassy, Alphabet's Sundar Pichai and oil giant Exxon's Darren Woods. The group's lobbying efforts included an initiative asking people to contact their members of Congress, and social media posts claiming that the proposed tax hikes would result in nearly one million lost jobs in the United States.

Other groups opposing the bill include the Rate Coalition, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and the National Association of Manufacturers.

Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash