Climate change is no joke, and that’s why Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft have filed an amicus brief supporting the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan.
The Clean Power Plan was issued in 2015, and will allow the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate emissions by requiring states to cut greenhouse gas pollution from electric power plants around the United States, according to The New York Times. The Supreme Court blocked the plan temporarily in February, after it received stay applications from more than 24 states and various energy industry groups.
The Obama administration, environmental groups, states, and more than 200 former and current lawmakers have thrown their support for the plan, according to The Hill, and you can now add some of the world’s biggest tech companies to that list.
Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft say that as large companies, “tech amici” are some of the biggest consumers of electricity. As such, the four have taken steps to reduce consumption, to ensure a more sustainable method through renewable resources.
“This commitment reflects Tech Amici’s belief that delaying action on climate change will be costly in economic and human terms, while accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy will produce multiple benefits with regard to sustainable economic growth, public health, resilience to natural disasters, and the health of the global environment,” according to the brief filed on April 1.
With a collective market capitalization of more than “$1.7 trillion,” the quartet believe their achievements and experience in shifting to renewable energy puts them in a strong position to endorse the CPP, and relieve any fears surrounding it.
Amazon made a long-term green energy pledge in 2014, to achieve “100 percent renewable energy usage” for its global infrastructure footprint. Apple buys and generates renewable power for 100 percent of its U.S. facilities, and 93 percent of its worldwide facilities. Google has bought 2 gigawatts of renewable energy to date, “making it the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the world.” Google has been carbon neutral since 2007, and Microsoft has been carbon neutral since 2012, and also has a long-term goal of making all of its operations run on 100 percent renewable energy.
You can read the full brief here. The case is scheduled for oral argument on June 2.
