I admit it–I fell for it.

On Monday, I received an email press release from the Chamber of Commerce saying that they reversed their position on climate change policy in a press conference in Washington. The release said they now support the Kerry-Boxer climate bill, and that this shift, “comes after the defection of several prominent members of the Chamber, including PG&E, Apple, PNM Resources, and Exelon.”

My first thought was: “How’d the Chamber even get my email address?” When I checked the email sender domain name, it appeared to be a Chamber domain. Only, it wasn’t an authentic Chamber domain. A few hours later, I received an email from the same address saying that the whole thing was a hoax pulled off by political pranksters the Yes Men. I’d been punked. But I wasn’t the only one. Real Chamber of Commerce representative Eric Wohlschlegel found out about Monday’s fake press conference and had to barge into the National Press Club and announce it a fraud.

That wasn’t all the Yes Men had up their sleeves this week.

Yesterday, the Yes Men-sponsored group wearing SurvivaBalls stormed the U.S. Capitol steps to highlight the urgent need for climate legislation. At one point, the group chased down Senator Arlen Spector (D-Pa) outside of the Hart Senate Office Building. They then proceeded to the Chamber of Commerce, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial.

The SurvivaBall, describes the group, “pretends to be a self-contained living system specially engineered to protect the wearer from all possible climate change impacts, including droughts, floods, tornadoes, and even food shortages.” It has supposedly been developed by some of America’s most powerful companies as the only alternative to climate change legislation. The pricetag on the suit is a ridiculous “$100 million dollars.”

The Yes Men are known for pulling off elaborately-executed pranks where they impersonate powerful executives or spokespersons to underscore corporate greed and influence on public policy. They call it “identity correction.”

Last month in New York the group distributed a fake edition of the New York Post with the cover headline, “We’re Screwed.” The edition focused entirely on climate change and how it will affect New York. (Though the newspaper was a fake, the reporting was real and factual.) They also sent a group of SurvivaBall wearers up the East River in hopes that they’d reach the United Nations for the Climate Week addresses. Yes Men’s Andy Bichlbaum was arrested and several others were ticketed for the stunt. Ten months ago, the Yes Men distributed copies of a fake edition of New York Times that claimed the Iraq war was over, that Bush had been indicted, and that public universities would be free.

This week’s political stunts in Washington were, according to the Yes Men, and early kick-off to the 350.org international day of climate action. It could be said, however, that the stunts were also a way of promoting their new film, The Yes Men Fix the World, released earlier this month.

To learn how to be a part of a safe climate future, click the “Act” link below.