Chamber/Commerce, Reuters Victimized By Climate Change Pranksters

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has long held firm to its opposition to the climate-change bill that's currently before Congress.

Until today.

Or so Reuters thought.

It looks like the wire-service agency was duped by a group pretending it was the Chamber of Commerce and who held a press conference in Washington this morning. At the fake press conference, the fake Chamber handed out a fake press release today that quotes a spokesman for its "president," Tom J. Donahue -- the head of the real Chamber is Tom Donohue -- saying:

"We believe that strong climate legislation is the best way to ensure American innovation, create jobs, and make sure the U.S. and the world are on track to reduce global carbon emissions, and to provide for the needs of the American business community for generations to come," said the spokesman, Hingo Sembra.

The new position is an about-face on climate policy for the Chamber, which previously lobbied against government action. The shift comes after the defection of several prominent members of the Chamber, including PG&E, Apple, PNM Resources, and Exelon.

"We believe the Kerry-Boxer Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act is a good start towards strong legislation," noted Sembra, adding that such legislation "should include a stiff carbon tax and correspondingly strong incentives for industries we wish to foster."

And Reuters immediately sent out an alert:

US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SAYS WILL NO LONGER OPPOSE CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION, WANTS CARBON TAX IN SENATE BILL

The problem, of course, was that is was nothing more than a hoax. The REAL Chamber of Commerce -- or at least what we think is the real Chamber of Commerce -- announced on its Web site that the statement quoted above was a "prank," adding that a clarifying statement was forthcoming.

Until then, you can read the take of the Washington Post's David Fahrenthold, who reports on what had to be a surreal moment:

The event, complete with fake handouts on chamber letterhead, at least a couple of fake reporters, and a podium adorned with the chamber logo, broke up when a spokesman from the real chamber burst in.

What followed was a spectacle not usually seen in the John Peter Zenger Room at the National Press Club: two men in business suits shouting at one another, each calling the other an impostor and demanding to see business cards.

"This guy is a fake! He's lying! This is a stunt that I've never seen before," said Eric Wohlschlegel, an official at the actual Chamber of Commerce, who said he'd heard about the hoax event from a reporter who'd mistakenly shown up at the chamber's headquarters.

The fake Chamber of Commerce official, who called himself "Hingo Sembra," did not give his real name to reporters, saying only that he represented a coalition of climate activists.

He appeared, by comparing photos on the Internet, to be a member of the activist-prankster group called The Yes Men. They have staged several hoaxes to draw attention to what they believe is slow progress in fighting climate change. The group's last big stunt was to print fake copies of the New York Post last month during a U.N. climate conference, bearing the headline "We're Screwed." Asked if he was one of The Yes Men, he merely said, "Who?"

Before the real chamber official burst in, he told reporters that the chamber had decided to give up its aggressive opposition to climate legislation -- which has included a not-a-hoax call for a new "Scopes Monkey Trial" to prove the science of climate change. ...

A few minutes later, Wohlschlegel -- from the real chamber of commerce -- burst in, and it was all over but the shouting. Afterward, he said the chamber's position had actually not changed: they have called for some legislation on climate change, but they do not support the bill passed by the U.S. House this summer.

"It is a very sad day," Wohlschlegel said.

After the jig was up, a real reporter asked the fake spokesman if he thought this kind of event -- if lying about who he was, particularly -- was really going to help his side win the national climate debate.

"Don't know," he said, apparently speaking as himself.

Funny stuff, yes. But since journalists often do take press conferences and press releases at face value, it can only be another troubling moment for the profession.

P.S. Seriously, did President Obama really win the Nobel Peace Prize? At the moment my Blackberry went off, I was convinced it was an early-morning prank by the Onion.