Several major news organizations fell for a hoax today, when a left wing group put out a phony press release announcing that the US Chamber of Commerce had dropped its opposition to the climate change legislation currently in the US Senate: CNBC, Reuters fall for climate hoax.

An email press release announcing the change is a hoax, say Chamber officials.

Several media organizations fell for it.

A CNBC anchor interrupted herself mid-sentence Monday morning to announce that the network had “breaking news,” then cut away to reporter Hampton Pearson, who read from the fake press release.

Pearson quickly followed up with a second report saying the “so-called bulletin” was an “absolute hoax.” Smelling a rat, CNBC’s Larry Kudlow demanded to know whether the White House had been involved.

In a story posted Monday morning, Reuters declared: “The Chamber of Commerce said on Monday it will no longer opposes climate change legislation, but wants the bill to include a carbon tax.”

Reuters updated the story to acknowledge the hoax, but it was too late: The Washington Post  and the New York Times had already posted the fake story on their Web sites.

Climate legislation supporters say AVAAZ Action Factory is responsible for the release. The group, known for its activist media stunts, has not returned calls for comment. But a post on the group’s Web site says has plans to “make this the worst Monday ever for the anti-climate PR machine at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.”