New revelations in the US Chamber Climate Credibility Crisis continue to demonstrate that the US Chamber's problems are of its own making, notwithstanding its attempts to blame environmentalists and anyone else it can think of.

Last Friday (sorry for the delay, I was at home taking part in the national swine flu outbreak) Politico reported that NRG Energy company wouldn't even join  the US Chamber because of its position on climate:

"Some time ago, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce approached us about becoming members and, after being briefed by their representative on the Chamber's position on climate change, we declined to join," said David Crane, president and CEO of NRG Energy Inc. "It was not that they opposed a specific federal climate bill; it was that their position on the issue was so extreme that we could only conclude their ultimate objective was to defeat all legislative efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions."

What's interesting is that NRG didn't reject the Chamber over the Scopes monkey trial broo-ha-ha, or because they were pressured by outside groups, but because of what the US Chamber had to say in a private meeting.

Let's run the tape again, because its such a clear statement:

their position on the issue was so extreme that we could only conclude their ultimate objective was to defeat all legislative efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions.

That's pretty much what we concluded, too.

US Chamber's Climate Credibilty Crisis Counter:

Quit US Chamber over climate:  Apple, Exelon, PNM Resources, PG&E, PSEG, Levi Strauss & Co*, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Mohawk Paper.

Quit US Chamber Board over climate: Nike.

Refused to Join Chamber over climate: NRG Energy.

Companies that say the US Chamber doesn't represent their views on climate: Johnson&Johnson, General Electric, Alcoa, Duke, Entergy, Microsoft, Toyota(?), Royal Dutch Shell, Seventh Generation, small businesses in Minnesota, Colorado and Wisconsin.

Local Chambers distancing themselves from the US Chamber: San Jose Chamber of Commerce, Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce.

Editorials and columns noting that the US Chamber is damaging its reputation and credibility: BusinessWeek, PRWeek, Fortune Magazine's Marc Gunther, Newsweek, LA Times, Washington Post.   

* UPDATE 11/12/09: Levi-Strauss informed us that the company did not leave the US Chamber over climate concerns, as Greenwire had reported.