Apple’s latest Environmental Responsibility Report is harsh in it’s treatment of climate change.
“We don’t want to debate climate change. We want to stop it,” Apple says.
“Our environmental commitment starts in the places where we work — from our corporate campuses to our data centers,” the report continues. “Although our facilities now represent only 1 percent of our carbon footprint, they reflect our values, and we want them to act as models for others to follow. This is why we are constantly making our facilities more energy efficient and aggressively investing in renewable energy.”
Apple’s report is the latest in a series of tech companies coming forward and expressing their strong stance on climate change.
One of the strongest lobbying groups working to prevent climate change efforts is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The organization has faced widespread criticism, including criticism from Microsoft and Google.
Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt openly stated that ALEC is guilty of “literally lying about climate change.”
ALEC continues to fight climate change advocates, sending cease desist letters to organizations fighting them. The letters read in part:
Unilateral efforts by the United States or regions within the United States, will not significantly decrease carbon emissions globally, and international efforts to decrease emissions have proven politically infeasible and unenforceable.
Instead of bowing to such rhetoric, Apple takes a stand and is doing something to fight the tide of growing carbon emissions.
We’re always trying to improve the way we conduct our greenhouse gas life cycle analysis. And when our assessments reveal a material, process, or system that’s making a significant negative impact on our carbon footprint, we reexamine how we might design that product, process, or facility.