The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is launching a climate change task force amid increasing pressure from the business community to address the issue, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.

The new task force will examine how climate change is affecting member companies' business decisions and other issues related to the topic, according to the news site. The initiative could spell changes to how the business group pursues environmental policy.

In the past, the Chamber has largely opposed government regulation aimed at addressing climate change and sowed doubt about the science behind it, at one point proposing holding a "Scopes Monkey Trial" on the topic. (The trial was a famous 1925 court case pitting evolution against creationism.) The business group has recently changed its tune, updating a position statement on its website earlier this year to acknowledge humans are contributing to climate change but emphasizing that free market solutions are the best way to tackle the problem.

The Chamber's past stance has cost it members, with Apple and Exelon Corp. both leaving the group as a result. More recently, Royal Dutch Shell pulled out of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers in April over disagreements with climate policy, saying at the time it would remain with the Chamber and try to change its position on the topic.

The Chamber's announcement came a day after the United National launched a climate summit briefly attended by President Donald Trump. It also came a day after protestors shut down several streets in Washington, D.C., to demand climate action, labeling the business group and five other associations "climate criminals" for their opposition to environmental regulation. https://bloom.bg/2kQtqoR

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