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Steve Chiotakis: Governments around the world are preparing to negotiate a new global climate change treaty in Copenhagen later this year, but some businesses are feeling a bit left out. Today in Washington, the Chamber of Commerce convenes a conference of business associations to talk about their concerns.
Marketplace’s John Dimsdale reports.

John Dimsdale: The president of the Chamber of Commerce’s Energy Institute, Karen Harbert, says the global businesses at today’s conference want a bigger seat at the negotiating table:

Karen Harbert: After all, at the end of the day, whatever agreement is reached either at Copenhagen or beyond, the success or failure relies on the private sector. It’s capital, its technology, its people.

She says businesses worry that those who are at the negotiating table will come up with a pollution reduction target that stifles economic growth and destroys jobs.

Harbert: After all, they’re not in the private sector, they’re not meeting payroll every week — and business is.

But the president of the Environmental Defense Fund, Fred Krupp, says plenty of businesses are negotiating — and favor strong cuts in greenhouse gases.

Fred Krupp: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been an obstructionist force. They’ve decided that they want to block progress on reducing climate emissions.

Krupp says in the talks he attends, he can’t walk 15 feet without bumping into another representative of a multinational company.

In Washington, I’m John Dimsdale for Marketplace.