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Duke’s Jim Rogers leaves Chamber of Commerce board after climate fight.

Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers, a critic of the US Chamber of Commerce’s reactionary stance on climate policy, has left the lobbying giant’s board. A Wonk Room review of the Chamber’s website found that six companies have left the board and thirteen joined since last year. Siemens USA’s George Nolen, another critic of the Chamber’s climate opposition, has also left the board. Duke and Siemens are members of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, which helped develop the Waxman-Markey climate legislation that the Chamber opposed. In October 2009, Rogers had indicated he still believed his board membership was worthwhile:

“I feel like the chamber is open to evolving their thinking,” Duke CEO Rogers said in an interview. He said he thought he could push the chamber “to the center” on the issue by staying on the board.

For more, including the additions to the Chamber’s board, read the full post at the Wonk Room.

Update:

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Spokesmen for Duke and the Chamber have informed ThinkProgress that Jim Rogers stepped down from the board only because he had served three consecutive two-year terms, and was required by the bylaws to cycle off. According to the Chamber, Rogers will rejoin the board in June.