“Many of America’s biggest corporations including Apple Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are sticking by their pledges to fight climate change even as President Donald Trump guts his predecessor’s environmental policies,” Christopher Flavelle reports for Bloomberg. “Companies say their pledges, coordinated by the Obama administration, reflect their push to cut energy costs, head off activist pressure and address a risk to their bottom line in the decades to come. ”
“Trump signed an order Tuesday that tells the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider former President Barack Obama’s climate rules, and rescinds a series of orders Obama issued to embed consideration of climate change in government actions from where to lease buildings to whether to allow oil pipelines to be built,” Flavelle reports. “Business’s biggest lobbying force supports Trump on this issue. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce welcomed Trump’s order calling that shift ‘vital to stimulating economic growth.’ The group argues that Obama’s regulations held back economic growth, preventing business owners from constructing needed pipelines, roads and other infrastructure. It also warned that the climate push would lead to a jump in energy prices.”
“Technology companies including Apple, Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft Corp. also expressed their support for Obama’s policies,” Flavelle reports. “‘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.”
“Many energy businesses welcomed Trump’s rollback. The Independent Petroleum Association of America, which represents oil and natural gas producers, joined the Chamber of Commerce in praising his move. So did the National Federation of Independent Business, which challenged the Clean Power Plan in court,” Flavelle reports. “‘People are going to freeze in the dark because of the destruction of the reliable electric power grid under Obama and the Democrats,’ Robert Murray, the president and CEO of coal-mining company Murray Energy Corp. said in an interview. ‘Mr. Trump is doing the right things.'”
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MacDailyNews Note: Apple’s Environment website states, “We take the same innovative approach to the environment that we do with our products. We’re creating new solar energy projects to reduce our carbon footprint. We’re switching to greener materials to create safer products and manufacturing processes. We’re protecting working forests and making sure they are managed sustainably. We’re even creating a more mindful way to recycle devices using robots.”
Moe info here: apple.com/environment/
SEE ALSO:
Greenpeace: Apple again the world’s most environmentally friendly tech company – January 10, 2017
Apple continues supply chain transparency as Trump administration considers suspending conflict mineral requirements – March 27, 2017
Greenpeace: Apple is tech’s greenest – May 15, 2015
Greenpeace: Apple leading the way in creating a greener, more sustainable internet – April 2, 2014
Greenpeace praises Apple for reducing use of conflict minerals – February 13, 2014