Sam Oliver
Environmental advocacy group Greenpeace, a longtime critic of Apple's corporate policies, has come out in favor of the hiring of former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Greenpeace senior IT analyst Gary Cook called Apple's hiring of Jackson a "bold move," and praised her as a "proven advocate." In particular, the organization highlighted her track record in combating toxic waste and dirty energy.
"Jackson can make Apple the top environmental leader in the tech sector by helping the company use its influence to push electric utilities and governments to provide the clean energy that both Apple and America need right now," Cook said.
The comments are rare praise from Greenpeace, which took Apple to task last year for the energy consumed by its iCloud service. The organization accused Apple of lagging behind other technology companies, such as Facebook and Google, in utilizing environmentally friendly power.
Apple has countered by noting that its North Carolina data center is powered by the largest solar farm and largest fuel cell installation of any non-energy company in the nation. Greenpeace still staged protests at Apple's California headquarters and Ireland operations before the group said that Apple's environmental policies have been "significantly improved."
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook announced the hiring of Jackson this week in an interview at the D11 conference. She served as administrator of the EPA under President Barack Obama from 2009 until February of this year.
In her new position, she will oversee Apple's green initiatives, including projects like the massive solar farm accompanying its Maiden, N.C., iCloud data center.
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57 Comments
Who really cares what Greenpeace thinks....
I'm all for the environment, but I kind of dislike Greenpeace. Greenpeace says they approve! **** them.
Screw 'em. Makes me wish Apple hadn't done it.
Greenpeace needs to move off of Apple and look at Google, Samsung, etc. they can go publicity whore themselves somewhere else.
Does it really matter what a bunch of criminals and hooligans who have illegally trespassed and protested on Apple's property on multiple occasions and on multiple continents thinks about Apple? If Greenpeace praises something, then chances are that I am against it.
And why would Apple need to hire some woman from the current scandalous administration to oversee anything at Apple? Apple is doing just fine in regards to the environment.
Maybe Apple just hired her because she's a Washington insider and connected, and that might help Apple deal with any criticisms or problems in the future. It seems like mostly a PR move. How much will Apple be paying her? Way too much, without a doubt.
And in honor of Greenpeace, I will make an effort to use more electricity than normal today. Maybe I'll turn all of my Macs on at the same time, even the old ones that I don't use much anymore.