California utility quits U.S. Chamber of Commerce in dispute over climate policy

In a dispute that highlights the disconcerting dichotomy of views on global warming, the Pacific Gas & Electric Co., a major California utility, announced Tuesday that it had withdrawn from the pro-business U.S. Chamber of Commerce. PG&E's chairman told the chamber that it was leaving because of "fundamental differences" with the group's approach to climate change, according to the New York Times. “We find it dismaying that the chamber neglects the indisputable fact that a decisive majority of experts have said the data on global warming are compelling and point to a threat that cannot be ignored,” PG&E Chairman Peter Darbee said in a letter to the chamber. The letter was published in a PG&E blog on Tuesday, the Times said. The chamber said it supports greenhouse gas emission reductions in principal, but has been critical of President Barack Obama's new regulatory proposals because it believes they could drive up energy prices and force U.S. jobs overseas, Reuters said. The chamber recently threatened to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its climate change conclusions, Reuters said.