Europe and the United States: On the Same Planet or in Different Universes?

Sometimes it is hard not to wonder whether the European Union and the United States inhabit the same planet. I am wondering about that again in the wake of news that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to hold a hearing on the science of climate change.

According to a recent article in The Los Angeles Times ("U.S. Chamber of Commerce Seeks Trial on Global Warming," Aug. 25, 2009), the chamber contends that such an event would be "the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century." William Kovacs, the chamber's spokesman for regulatory, environmental, and technology issues says, "It would be evolution vs. creationism. It would be the science of climate change on trial."

So where does the EU-U.S. observation come in? The European business groups would never take such position as has the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. That is because EU consumers would effectively boycott and otherwise shame European business groups that took such positions.

But many business groups in the U.S., of course, looks at things differently. And the last thing the U.S. business community wants to be compared to is the European business community.

One might think that the U.S. Chamber might view the issue of addressing climate change as an enormous opportunity for introducing new services and products. But no. Their role is one of disputing the need for any sort of reasonable response.

The world is changing and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is doing everything it can to try to stop the change or obfuscate the need to plan for change. All of this sounds to me like a way the chamber can argue that it is saving American capitalism. Many would prefer they spend their time keeping an eye on Wall Street, a place that really does need some adult supervision.