Longtime Republican political operative and the top political adviser at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Scott Reed abruptly became no longer affiliated with the country’s largest trade group Tuesday, both Reed and the Chamber confirmed. Reeds ouster comes as a new report, issued Wednesday, detailed how the Chamber of Commerce has continued pushing pro-fossil fuel policies despite its acknowledgment that humans are contributing to climate change. Depending on who you believe, Reed quit the group because, as he told Politico, he could “no longer be part of this institution as it moves left,” or, if the Chamber of Commerce is to be believed, he was fired “for cause,” allegedly breaking confidentiality agreements, leaking materials to the press and “distort[ing] facts for his own benefit.” The development, just weeks before the November election, comes about a month after the Chamber’s decision to back nearly two dozen largely industry-friendly House Democrats — a move that caused turmoil within the Chamber of Commerce, and among its donors and political allies. The report from Change the Chamber finds that the Chamber of Commerce lobbied on climate change 57 times in the last two years, on both sides of the issue, but every one of the group’s successes “were pro-fossil fuel outcomes.” (Reed: New York Times $, Politico, Washington Post $, The Hill; Chamber lobbying: DeSmog)
