Apple Reiterates Commitment to Obama Era Climate Pledge

[MacRumors]

Apple has said it will honor the commitment it made under the Obama administration to fight climate change, regardless of actions by President Trump to dismantle his predecessor's environmental policies (via Bloomberg).

Back in April 2016, Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft filed an amicus brief in support of the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan, which aimed to cut carbon pollution produced by power generators, despite pushback from energy companies. Earlier this week, Trump signed an order telling the EPA to rescind the Clean Power Plan and reconsider all Obama era climate rules, including those relating to building leases and oil pipelines.

In response to Trump's order, Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft issued a joint statement signaling their continued determination to cut energy costs and address the risks posed by climate change to future business growth.

"We believe that strong clean energy and climate policies, like the Clean Power Plan, can make renewable energy supplies more robust and address the serious threat of climate change while also supporting American competitiveness, innovation, and job growth," the companies said in a joint statement after Trump's order was signed.

Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Ikea, Levi Strauss & Co., and Best Buy, which all signed the 2015 pledge organized by the Obama administration, also said they still intended to honor their commitments.

The pledges comes despite support for Trump's order from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which called it "vital to stimulating economic growth". The group argues that Obama's regulations risk a jump in energy prices, and that they have already held back growth by preventing the construction of pipelines, roads, and other infrastructure. The Independent Petroleum Association of America, which represents oil and natural gas producers, also praised Trump's move.

Apple's renewed commitment to the Obama era pledge is in line with its overarching aim to become a global clean energy company. More than 93 percent of Apple's worldwide operations are said to be powered by renewable energy. Earlier this month, it announced that component supplier Ibiden would become the first company in Japan to guarantee all of its Apple manufacturing will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy. Chinese suppliers have agreed similar commitments.

Beyond manufacturing, Apple's new headquarters in California will be powered by one of the largest onsite corporate solar energy installations in the world. Likewise, all of the company's data centers are powered by 100 percent renewable energy, as are 145 of its U.S. retail stores, and the large majority of its corporate facilities.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple Reiterates Commitment to Obama Era Climate Pledge

 

[Aussi3]

Cook doing his magic again for the greater good...

 

[_Refurbished_]

I can't wait for the oil companies to be useless. Elon Musk is coming for you...

 

[FattyMembrane]

I take it Apple's refusal to make desktop computers anymore is an environmental measure.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

...but we will still make short lived, largely un-user upgradeable, glued-together products so that landfills can fill up at the same steady pace as the consumption of rare natural resources.

Ah, I love a good grandstand.

 

[-BigMac-]

too many politics not enough hardware

 

[sers]

I can't wait for the oil companies to be useless. Elon Musk is coming for you...

Oil isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The hypocrisy of these companies is amazing. Without oil and petrochemicals, their business lines would cease to exist in no time. Oil is used in everything from the mining of raw materials, to manufacturing and processing of their products to shipping. And this whole thing about using renewables is just virtue signalling. Their efforts will have zero impact on global warming, or climate change, or whatever they call it these days. The climate has been changing since the dawn of time and it's ludicrous to think humans have any impact on it. CO2 is plant food, not pollution. I'm all for clean air, water and land, but this green religion called climate change is nothing but a sham.

 

[H2SO4]

Cook doing his magic again for the greater good...

Unless that commitment is in China of course.

 

[JosephAW]

Maybe Apple should go ahead and rename themselves EcoApple or InviroApple or the iPhone to EcoPhone.

 

[Urban Joe]

Oil isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The hypocrisy of these companies is amazing. Without oil and petrochemicals, their business lines would cease to exist in no time. Oil is used in everything from the mining of raw materials, to manufacturing and processing of their products to shipping. And this whole thing about using renewables is just virtue signalling. Their efforts will have zero impact on global warming, or climate change, or whatever they call it these days. The climate has been changing since the dawn of time and it's ludicrous to think humans have any impact on it. CO2 is plant food, not pollution. I'm all for clean air, water and land, but this green religion called climate change is nothing but a sham.

It's all an excuse for global taxation and control. They preach this all the while zipping around in their own corporate/private jets. They think we are all too stupid to realize what crooks they are.

 

[pat500000]

Only if apple had that much commitment with hardwares.

 

[miknos]

Like you need a law to be "green".

Everything has to be political now. Obama was cool (even though he left a massive $20 TRILLION debt) and Trump is the bad guy because he doesn't want to start WW3 with Russia and used pubes for hair transplant.

 

[Kaibelf]

I take it Apple's refusal to make desktop computers anymore is an environmental measure.

You mean they won't release them on your schedule. Cook recently stated they have something in the works. If you want something rushed to market there are plenty of companies willing to accommodate you.
[doublepost=1490960125][/doublepost]

Like you need a law to be "green".

Everything has to be political now. Obama was cool (even though he left a massive $20 TRILLION debt) and Trump is the bad guy because he doesn't want to start WW3 with Russia and used pubes for hair transplant.

"Everything has to be political now," says the guy who uses an unflattering picture of Hillary as an avatar. Why do the only two options have to be "starting WW3 with Russia" or basically giving the Kremlin control of the United States? SMH. Also, Obama did what had to be done to save our banking system, automotive sector, and overall economy. Deregulation combined with recklessness and greed cost millions of people their life savings, and all we have to show for it is a clown setting us up for another fall and a bunch of people who walked away with golden parachutes. But hey, I'm sure coal will come roaring back.

 

[H2SO4]

Oil isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The hypocrisy of these companies is amazing. Without oil and petrochemicals, their business lines would cease to exist in no time. Oil is used in everything from the mining of raw materials, to manufacturing and processing of their products to shipping. And this whole thing about using renewables is just virtue signalling. Their efforts will have zero impact on global warming, or climate change, or whatever they call it these days. The climate has been changing since the dawn of time and it's ludicrous to think humans have any impact on it. CO2 is plant food, not pollution. I'm all for clean air, water and land, but this green religion called climate change is nothing but a sham.

I agree with the vast majority of what you said but I think sham is a tad strong. I’d suggest that we are in fact having a measurable detrimental effect, if not to the degree that the politicians like to pretend so they can over tax us, degree on the planet?

 

[jonnyb]

Ah, "But what about..." is the familiar cry of people who like to moan but never actually do anything of value themselves. That's their rallying cry and their argument is "If we can't do everything, we should do nothing"

 

[s2mikey]

I can't wait for the oil companies to be useless. Elon Musk is coming for you...

Right - because nothing is better for the economy than millions of lost jobs, entire industries decimted and some idiot like Musk sucking taxpayer money via subsides to keep his goofy car company afloat. Great. All in the name of JUNK science.

Not only that but oil is still a great way to power a car and lots of other things. Until we get a suitable, cheaper replacement, its the way to go. Its much cleaner than it used to be too.

 

[WatchFromAfar]

I can't wait for the oil companies to be useless. Elon Musk is coming for you...

So you don't like plastic then?

 

[You are the One]

The demands are fair. EPA should publish the data they process to regulate on. Why hiding scientific references? Is the research unclear or secret and classified with reference to national security?

How about some more openness?

 

[Kaibelf]

So you don't like plastic then?

Perhaps someone will come up with something else. Transparent aluminum?

 

[thekeyring]

I'm shocked that attitude towards climate change is even considered "political". We know climate change is happening. We know oil is finite and will run out in the next 200 years or so. America could be generations ahead of the curve if it seriously invested in renewable energy.

Surly even Trump would like this - America would look clean and modern. There's the potential for job creation. There's the potential to make a ton of money by selling the oil America would no longer need, and later on the technology so the rest of the world can transition to renewable energy.

I don't understand the current decision, unless Trump really is thinking super short term.

 

[H2SO4]

I'm shocked that attitude towards climate change is even considered "political". We know climate change is happening. We know oil is finite and will run out in the next 200 years or so. America could be generations ahead of the curve if it seriously invested in renewable energy.

Surly even Trump would like this - America would look clean and modern. There's the potential for job creation. There's the potential to make a ton of money by selling the oil America would no longer need, and later on the technology so the rest of the world can transition to renewable energy.

I don't understand the current decision, unless Trump really is thinking super short term.

That’s not what people are saying. Everyone knows climate change is happening, even Trump. What is in dispute is the extent to which is a negative effect, how much humans are to blame and what would have happened anyway. Those people in the positions of power are the ones that drive the large engined and expensive cars and live in massive houses, you know the ones that tax us regulars out of existence. The ones that get a private jet to functions and have expense accounts that we pay for.
The ones that use more resources per head than the rest of us.

 

[Juicy Box]

I'm shocked that attitude towards climate change is even considered "political".

What isn't political these days. Hard to get through a week without having an article on MR front page with Apple/cook involved in something political.

We know climate change is happening.

I don't think you will get an argument on this statement. You probably will on WHY it is happening though, especially with the Wikileaks' emails on manipulated climate data.

 

[hagar]

Oil isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The hypocrisy of these companies is amazing. Without oil and petrochemicals, their business lines would cease to exist in no time. Oil is used in everything from the mining of raw materials, to manufacturing and processing of their products to shipping. And this whole thing about using renewables is just virtue signalling. Their efforts will have zero impact on global warming, or climate change, or whatever they call it these days. The climate has been changing since the dawn of time and it's ludicrous to think humans have any impact on it. CO2 is plant food, not pollution. I'm all for clean air, water and land, but this green religion called climate change is nothing but a sham.

I'm a climate scientist. If you don't believe what me and my colleagues have been warning about for 20+ years, that's fine. But if policy makers or the president don't want to believe it because it doesn't fit their agenda, we do have a problem. Science is not political. It's just science. Facts.

The biggest argument for climate change deniers is that climate has been changing since the dawn of time. Guess how they know that? Yes, us climate scientists. But if those same scientists notice there's something wrong, suddenly they don't believe it. Hypocritical no?

How ignorant can you be to think we don't have an impact on our planet. We destroy complete ecosystems, wipe animal and plant species of the face of the earth, cut down forests at an alarming rate, pollute rivers and the air, ... we know that land use changes such as urbanisation and agriculture have a big impact on weather and rain patterns, even thousands kilometres away, ... But the climate? That's where you draw the line? That's the one magical thing on our fragile Earth we can't impact?

Well, the impact is there, and it's huge. The last decades we had a dampening effect of climate change because there are all these buffers, like trapping heath in the oceans, but these buffers are getting full. That combined with many powerful feedback loops, i.e. melting of ice, thawing of permafrost, to name a few, will re-enforce what we have been seeing this last years. And that is a rise in global temperature and more unstable, extreme weather.

Now, even if you still don't "believe" that (and I hate to use that word in the context of science), I assume you do realise that climate change (natural or man made) will have huge impacts on the planet and our lives? So even if the current White House administration doesn't want to address the causes, why is it also ignoring the consequences? Ignoring scientific facts and thus jeopardizing the future of our planet, is criminal. There's no other word for it.

 

[H2SO4]

I'm a climate scientist. If you don't believe what me and my colleagues have been warning about for 20+ years, that's fine. But if policy makers or the president don't want to believe it because it doesn't fit their agenda, we do have a problem. Science is not political. It's just science. Facts.

The biggest argument for climate change deniers is that climate has been changing since the dawn of time. Guess how they know that? Yes, us climate scientists. But if those same scientists notice there's something wrong, suddenly they don't believe it. Hypocritical no?

How ignorant can you be to think we don't have an impact on our planet. We destroy complete ecosystems, wipe animal and plant species of the face of the earth, cut down forests at an alarming rate, pollute rivers and the air, ... we know that land use changes such as urbanisation and agriculture have a big impact on weather and rain patterns, even thousands kilometres away, ... But the climate? That's where you draw the line? That's the one magical thing on our fragile Earth we can't impact?

Well, the impact is there, and it's huge. The last decades we had a dampening effect of climate change because there are all these buffers, like trapping heath in the oceans, but these buffers are getting full. That combined with many powerful feedback loops, i.e. melting of ice, thawing of permafrost, to name a few, will re-enforce what we have been seeing this last years. And that is a rise in global temperature and more unstable, extreme weather.

Now, even if you still don't "believe" that (and I hate to use that word in the context of science), I assume you do realise that climate change (natural or man made) will have huge impacts on the planet and our lives? So even if the current White House administration doesn't want to address the causes, why is it also ignoring the consequences? Ignoring scientific facts and thus jeopardizing the future of our planet, is criminal. There's no other word for it.

No. I don't need a climate scientist to tell me that winters and summers have gradually changed, I can see that myself. Also whilst I’m not calling you a liar, climate scientists are capable of lying just like the rest of us. Just because a group of you say it is so, doesn't mean it is. Research is a funny thing and often times those funding it often push for particular results so the result is not objective and all encompassing.

 

[s2mikey]

I'm a climate scientist. If you don't believe what me and my colleagues have been warning about for 20+ years, that's fine. But if policy makers or the president don't want to believe it because it doesn't fit their agenda, we do have a problem. Science is not political. It's just science. Facts.

The biggest argument for climate change deniers is that climate has been changing since the dawn of time. Guess how they know that? Yes, us climate scientists. But if those same scientists notice there's something wrong, suddenly they don't believe it. Hypocritical no?

How ignorant can you be to think we don't have an impact on our planet. We destroy complete ecosystems, wipe animal and plant species of the face of the earth, cut down forests at an alarming rate, pollute rivers and the air, ... we know that land use changes such as urbanisation and agriculture have a big impact on weather and rain patterns, even thousands kilometres away, ... But the climate? That's where you draw the line? That's the one magical thing on our fragile Earth we can't impact?

Well, the impact is there, and it's huge. The last decades we had a dampening effect of climate change because there are all these buffers, like trapping heath in the oceans, but these buffers are getting full. That combined with many powerful feedback loops, i.e. melting of ice, thawing of permafrost, to name a few, will re-enforce what we have been seeing this last years. And that is a rise in global temperature and more unstable, extreme weather.

Now, even if you still don't "believe" that (and I hate to use that word in the context of science), I assume you do realise that climate change (natural or man made) will have huge impacts on the planet and our lives? So even if the current White House administration doesn't want to address the causes, why is it also ignoring the consequences? Ignoring scientific facts and thus jeopardizing the future of our planet, is criminal. There's no other word for it.

Humans have MUCH less of an impact than you people are giving us *credit* for. Not even close. So you expect us to live in cardboard boxes by candle-light just so hundreds of years from now maybe it will make a difference? Nope. Not interested.

Climate change is simply a ploy to grab cash and power from people to give it to others. Its an agenda. Period. Get off my back.