GreenPeace Criticizes Apple Data Center 'Greening'

Instead they use Bonneville Power Authority which is trying to shutdown renewable wind power and sell the environmentally destructive hydro power. BPA is also fighting to keep the Snake River dams which have extremely poor electric generation due to low flows and silting but are single biggest salmon killer. Even the ag. interests said they don't need the Snake dams but BPA being anti-environment to the extreme keeps them going.

 

Apple and Facebook are building in high desert. They could both build solar farms and make the facilities zero net but that would take real commitment, real dollars for real results. An example of failure of leadership in US. At least we have a few like Musk who do show business leadership.

 

I must be confused, North Carolina is "high desert?" The "Snake River" is on the East Coast?

I tend not to get too worried about Apple's attempt to 'Greenwash' as much as the efforts that hold Apple to a higher standard than Microsoft, Amazon, or dozens of other corporations. Green Peace has taught one lesson:

Efforts to 'green' your company will be criticized by Green Peace if not $ufficiently green. So why bother?

Apple has gotten nothing but grief for their efforts from this unnecessary and back-of-the-hand announcement by Green Peace. But Green Peace is not alone in singling out Apple.

There was a recent show in New York, "The Agony of Steve Jobs," that held him up to criticism for what later turned out to be a series of vignettes by a performing artist who 'invented' much of his story. He laid all of the Chinese labor abuses, all of their sins, on one man, Steve Jobs and Apple. Then it turned out he'd fabricated and misrepresented what he saw in China. As justification, he called his slander "art."

Making Apple into a scapegoat, condemning them for all 'sins' means we can ignore the bigger picture. We've found our villain and if we can just 'kill 'em' or drive them out of business, life will be beautiful. But this is a copout, evading the heavy lifting needed to bring on renewable energy.

Now if you want to criticize auto companies that are attempting to 'green wash' their products with ineffective start/stop or inflated claims about mileage, I'm with you. After all, this is PriusChat and we've had an abundance of hybrid skeptics and flat out liars about 'green transportation.' But I have a hard time agreeing to 'mob' Apple (as I type on any of our Macintosh laptops or iPad.)

Bob Wilson

 

+1

Green peace attacks many companies not just apple. I really don't think apple is all that environmental, but certainly it is not a bad environmental company. I do think that other people doing it is no excuse for labor practices in China. All criticism there is legitimate. Apple can easily find companies that treat employees with human dignity, but went with the cheapest that could produce their product. I don't think green is really an image problem for apple.

Whole foods needs to keep a reputation as a green company, and indeed they are. Green peace went after them for sea food practices, whole foods looked at them, and followed all the green peace guidelines.
Company Green Mission Report now posted online - Whole Foods Market Newsroom
Intel, Whole Foods lead in green-power purchasing | Green Tech - CNET News

But apple has anouther problem apart from electricity, and unlike electricity, this is a real brown practice.
Apple's green image continues to be dirtied - CNN.com

glueing the batteries into the cases, make them more likely to disposed of instead of simply replacing and recycling the battery. This sounds like a pure marketing move to make customers replace products when the batteries get old, but it is not very green at all.

 

Apple has more than one data center. Prinville Oregon could qualify as high desert and they also have center a in North Carolina

 

Re-read my post and the quote I was replying to and see if the word "Oregon" is in there.

 

All very interesting but since I quoted what I was commenting on, Apple's Prineville Oregon, high desert location data center, bwilson4web's comments just look stupid.

 

They were incorrect, everyone gets things wrong occasionally. Be sure to remember this one because Bob isn't wrong very often, even if I don't agree with some of his views of the world.

 

I'll take your advice and remember that the next time I see one of "Bobs" anti-environment rants I will remember that he doesn't read what was written is not responding to a specific discussion but simply posting factless ideology.

 

No problem with the snark. I just went back an re-read the first post:

My old eyes just don't see:

• "Snake River" and salmon
• "high plains"

I live in North Alabama and have spent more than a little time in North Carolina and there is no Snake River nor salmon, and though they do have the eastern part of the Smokies. North Carolina is more "Rocky Top" than high plains. But being Southern, I have a pretty good idea of an intellectual lynchin'.

Green Peace went out of its way to pick a fight with Apple. Rather than looking at WalMart or a host of worse offenders, Green Peace took on a company that good, bad, or ugly, at least makes an attempt. For Apple's effort, all they got was a kick-in-the-teeth which tells anyone in business there is no benefit in even trying to be 'green.'

The only silver lining is a lot of North Carolinians think Apple is some sort of new-age, liberal, counter-cultural organization. Now the new Apple employees can keep copies of the Green Peace screed to get shelter from their right-wing nut neighbors . . . "Ah shucks, Apple ain't so bad. Green Peace hates 'em."

Bob Wilson

 

Yes we established that as noted by others.

You mean this snark?

 

Nope. Bob didn't see fine and he clearly confused a post about Apple's Oregon facility with South Carolina which lead to his snarky comment and off topic, apparently, stock diatribe, totally irrelevant to my comment. As x650 notes, all good to remember the next time we see one of Bob's posts to know it is likely not factual and just a stock response.

 

Somehow we've elevated "renewables" to mandated green status and discarded the old virtue of conservation of resources. I am all for renewable when it makes sense, but the main thing is sustainable, not renewable. Sustainable means sipping energy but maybe allows some use of fossil fuels in today's world. I must agree I am not the biggest fan of Duke's power mix, how about Apple working with Duke to fix the future? There is great potential there. I am sure they can do more than me writing this (actually I am pretty good at activism, but it's not my backyard so I'm out of ammo...but I feel like Apple could do it). We also can't let Greenpeace tell us how to run the country/company based on their one-sided opinion of political eco-correctness, whatever that is.

I think I agree with Sage about green credits/power certificates being less than advertized. I hope Sage is right about that, because I have adopted his philosophy on the matter, for the time being at least.

 

It could be because its not in the greenpeace report. I did a search. Now there are some upset environmentalists up in oregon, when you google it. It seems the founder of greenpeace wanted to remove the dams and help the salmon and build a bunch of nuclear power plants. He no longer is part of greenpeace, but is a big nuclear advocate.

Here is greenpeace on amazon and microsoft and the cloud.
Greenpeace goes after Amazon, Microsoft's cloud services - KCPQ

Forbes take
Greenpeace: How Apple Can Build A Coal-Free iCloud - Forbes

I don't think apple thought out that press release for 100% renewable. Dell is closest with over 50%, you simply can't get to 100 without cheating.

Apple is shiny and corporate. My nephew didn't want me to buy him an ipod,like his sister because he didn't like how they were taking over the world.

That was one of greenpeace's points, less coal for duke. Chances of apple doing anything to close down old coal plants and stopping mountain top removal, by asking nicely 0%. Apple employees can join the fight, and maybe apple can spring for some of those environmental lawyers and commercials.

Greenpeace is a pac. They raise money by attacking corporate America. It's the way it works. They do some good work, and some not so good work. Google is green, so apple said they wanted to go green also.



Cincinnati drops Duke, moves to 100% renewable energy credits | Greenpeace

I'm all for wind and solar, but greenpeace seems to see people taking a step in the right direction, then slaps them in the face. Maybe apple using renewable biogas in fuel cells isn't part of the greenpeace agenda. We know they hate duke energy

 

It's a RAND report actually. Not exactly Greenpeace. Sorry to bust another ideological bubble with facts and science.