Climate Debate: Utilities Quit Chamber of Commerce

A rift widened between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and some utilities as another major power provider quit over the business group's hard stance on pending climate regulation.

The Public Service Company of New Mexico, the state's largest utility, quit the chamber Friday just days after California's largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., said it was leaving because of the chamber's "extreme" positions.

Both sides of the climate change debate are escalating campaigns to sway national and global policy at a critical juncture.

It's among the hottest topics at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, where President Obama indicated he would call for an end to government subsidies that encourage the use of fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and natural gas. Fossil fuels are blamed for contributing to global warming.

Related

WATCH: Lights Out in Europe

WATCH: Bill to Cap Greenhouse Gasses

WATCH: Climate Change: Texas Temps in Chicago?

A major fight is expected when the climate bill heads to the Senate, perhaps by the end of the year, which is also when a pivotal U.N. climate conference takes place in Copenhagen.

At the heart of the ongoing clash with utilities is a statement from the Chamber of Commerce which asked that the science of global warming be put on "trial."

Many of the nation's largest utilities, along with the industry-backed Edison Electric Institute, favor legislation that would limits on carbon dioxide emissions. They have already committed billions to reduce emissions by buying energy from wind and solar farms, using nuclear power or trying to find ways to capture carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and store them underground.

"Not everybody agrees on everything but as the climate change debate has gone on, it has become clear to us that our position and the U.S. Chamber's position are not reconcilable," PNM spokesman Don Brown said Friday. "It doesn't make sense to us to be actively lobbying in D.C. for federal legislation at the same time that we're a member of an association that is aggressively opposing climate change legislation."