Apple Commits to Fighting Climate Change After EPA Rollback

Earlier this week, President Donald J. Trump signed a sweeping executive order rescinding many environmental policies that were formerly instated by the Obama administration. The order effectively gives the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a greater amount of leeway in its consideration of the many climate regulations instated by former President Barack Obama, while also eliminating a number of the former administration’s orders that the federal government “consider climate change” at the forefront of its decision-making processes.

Even in light of President Trump’s order, which also grants major corporations the freedom to conduct their businesses independent of these former regulations, a number of the largest corporations in America have banded together in a joint pledge to persist in their efforts to combat climate change, according to a report by Bloomberg.

In a joint statement issued shortly after the order was signed on Tuesday, Apple and several other tech-titans, including Google and Microsoft, expressed their unanimous support in favor of the climate rules rescinded by Trump’s order. At the core of their opposition was the administration’s rescission of the EPA’s Obama-enforced Clean Power Plan, which sought to reduce carbon emissions from U.S. based power plants by 32% over the next few decades (relative to their levels in 2005.)

“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 statement reads, which was jointly signed by Apple, Google, and Microsoft, as well as Amazon, Walmart, IKEA, Best Buy, and others in various industries.

Other companies and influencers have spoken out against the Trump administration’s executive order too, including Andy Pharaoh, vice president of corporate affairs for Mars’ confectioners, who expressed disappointment in the administration’s decision to rollback Obama-era regulations, while advising that his firm would remain steadfast in its commitment to reduce carbon emissions entirely by 2040.

Apple is among the foremost of these corporations to pledge its ongoing commitment to implement more environmentally conscious practices. Not only has the Silicon Valley tech-giant championed a number of initiatives, including solar energy-run data centers, to help support its agenda, but the company also hired former EPA administrator, Lisa P. Jackson, back in 2013 to oversee the entire scope of the iPhone-maker’s green initiatives.

And these ongoing efforts have certainly not been in vain. Apple Park, for example, the company’s new Cupertino, California-based headquarters, will run entirely on renewable energy thanks to its consortium of roof-mounted solar panels; and the tech-titan has been ranked No. 1 on Greenpeace’s Clean Energy Index for the last three years in a row.