In response to the announcement this morning by electric utility Exelon that it's leaving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because of differences over climate change legislation, Chamber Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer David Chavern said that while the move was "unfortunate," it's being overplayed by the media.

"We have 300,000 direct members. We represent over 3 million companies around the world," Chavern told NationalJournal.com Monday afternoon. "We have companies that disagree with the Chamber all the time. And members leave, and that's unfortunate. But we add more companies than we lose. It's just part of the business."

Speaking at a conference in Chicago this morning, Exelon Chairman and CEO John Rowe said that "inaction on climate is not an option. If Congress does not act, the EPA will, and the result will be more arbitrary, more expensive, and more uncertain for investors and the industry than a reasonable, market-based legislative solution."

Chavern disputed claims that the Chamber is blocking climate efforts. He said that his organization isn't against any one type of scheme, but doesn't support the House cap-and-trade bill because it doesn't focus enough on new technology and would "impose immediate and insurmountable costs on the economy." He expressed openness to some of the broader strategies that have been proposed to curb greenhouse gas emissions. "You could develop a cap-and-trade system that worked or a carbon tax system that worked," Chavern said. "The devil is in the details."

He said he hopes the bill Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and John Kerry, D-Mass., are set to unveil on Wednesday will include incentives the House bill lacked, including more funding for new technology and provisions that "incorporate a global solution" to climate change.

Exelon is the latest in a trio of electricity companies that have jumped ship recently because of differing views on climate change legislation. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and PNM Resources Inc. announced last week they were also leaving. Chavern insisted that this doesn't represent a trend and that the media is choosing to focus disproportionately on these companies' departures. "People like drama," he said. "If I were to tell you the truth, people leave and people join all the time and more people join than leave. That's not dramatic. So people are looking for drama here where there isn't any drama."

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