Apple, MS and Google contributing $140 BILLION toward cutting carbon emissions

[mentalfloss]

Climate Change: Apple, Microsoft, Google Among US Companies To Pledge $140B To Cut Carbon Emissions

Several U.S. companies, including Apple Inc., Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Bank of America Corp., will on Monday announce at least $140 billion in new investments to lower their carbon emissions and increase funding for clean energy, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The announcement -- part of a White House initiative to recruit private companies in the fight against climate change -- would come just months ahead of a crucial United Nations summit in Paris. Securing long-term climate finance is seen as a crucial step to a potential deal in Paris later this year.

“It’s significant because they are carbon-intensive, energy-consuming companies making a bottom-up commitment to address climate change,” Kevin Book, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington-based firm, told the Journal.

However, none of the companies scheduled to take part in Monday’s pledge are involved in the production of oil, natural gas and coal -- major sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.

A second round of similar pledges from several other companies is expected to be announced later this fall, the Journal reported. It is not yet clear whether American fossil fuel companies would also make commitments to reduce carbon emissions in the second round.

Among the pledges to be announced Monday is a commitment by General Motors Co. to cut its carbon intensity [ which denotes the amount of carbon dioxide emitted for each unit of energy consumed] by 20 percent in the next five years -- as compared to 2010 levels -- and a $75 billion pledge by Bank of America, the Journal reported.

The pledges, if followed through, would go a long way in helping the U.S. government meet its commitment to cut emissions by up to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

In 2010, the U.N. announced the creation of the Green Climate Fund, which aims to raise up to $100 billion a year to help developing countries mitigate the effects of climate change.

Later this week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce final regulations that aim to reduce carbon emissions from American power plants by 30 percent over 2005 levels by 2030.

"As the world looks toward global climate negotiations in Paris this December, American leadership at all levels will be essential,” the White House reportedly said, in a statement detailing the announcement.

Climate Change: Apple, Microsoft, Google Among US Companies To Pledge $140B To Cut Carbon Emissions

 

[DaSleeper]

What we need is a 24hr moratorium on global warming threads in this forum..............

And between Harper and global warming Flossy et al would have nothing to talk about....

 

[captain morgan]

Solyndra

 

[SLM]

What we need is a 24hr moratorium on global warming threads in this forum..............

And between Harper and global warming Flossy et al would have nothing to talk about....

Or we need to collectively start a massive amount of new threads on a wide variety of topics.

 

[Kreskin]

I pledge not to buy the dumb Apple Watch. That is one of my environmental committments.

 

[damngrumpy]

Corporations will even tilt at windmills to curry favor with the public
on an issue we can do noting about but it make great headlines.

 

[SLM]

I pledge not to buy the dumb Apple Watch. That is one of my environmental committments.

I'm not looking to pay that kind of money to go smaller on a screen, however I note the irony for myself which is that I was always a watch wearer (I have a horrible concept of time and a compulsive need to keep marking it). Ever since I've gone to the iPhone, I've actually given up wearing a watch. So if I bought the apple watch.....I'd be right back at square one. Lol.

 

[Locutus]

It's sucking up to barry is all. keeping up appearances. affects nothing but their bottom line$.

 

[taxslave]

The key sentence in there is "IF the pledges are carried through on". So far it is all just talk. But at least they are on the right track. Pollution control starts with the users, not the producers.

 

[petros]

They damn well better be investing. This internet contraption gobbles up 10% of the world's energy and it can't be done with unreliable wind and solar. It has to be consistent energy all on the same frequency. Wind creates what is know as "dirty power" feeding energy at multiple frequencies that eats electronics alive.

 

[Walter]

A foolish waste of money unless they are doing it for the P. R.

CO2 is not a pollutant.

 

[Kreskin]

What isn't a foolish waste of money? Our economy is built on people throwing money away.

 

[Walter]

What isn't a foolish waste of money? Our economy is built on people throwing money away.

Such as buying food; a complete waste.

 

[damngrumpy]

This isn't about the environment its about money and making more of it.
People are holding onto products longer cars fridges and so on.
There is a way to change that. put smart meters on utilities and get
electric going so it can mean new purchases and new taxes
At some point the public is going to say enough and that time is coming fast

America, Europe, and now even China are in financial trouble China alone
has squandered over three and a half trillion dollars. China became a
capitalist nation with a communist mentality and that has put the worlds
economy in trouble
With all the worry and scare tactics the environment is trotted out as soon as
people start to think for themselves.
Makes me want to run the engine on my V8 pickup for an hour

 

[Locutus]

This isn't about the environment its about money and making more of it.
People are holding onto products longer cars fridges and so on.
There is a way to change that. put smart meters on utilities and get
electric going so it can mean new purchases and new taxes
At some point the public is going to say enough and that time is coming fast

America, Europe, and now even China are in financial trouble China alone
has squandered over three and a half trillion dollars. China became a
capitalist nation with a communist mentality and that has put the worlds
economy in trouble
With all the worry and scare tactics the environment is trotted out as soon as
people start to think for themselves.
Makes me want to run the engine on my V8 pickup for an hour

as our friend flossy might say...^^^^^this guy gets it.

 

[Kreskin]

Such as buying food; a complete waste.

Is that why we have the tar sands, to grow food?

 

[mentalfloss]

China’s climate change plan represents decisive move
Breaking News | Irish & International Headlines | The Irish Times


Chinese premier Li Keqiang recently unveiled the country’s plan for combating climate change. While it could have been more ambitious, the plan shows China’s leaders are serious about changing the country’s development path. It critically undermines those in the West who claim that climate action should be delayed because China is doing nothing.


With China accounting for nearly 30 per cent of global CO2 emissions in 2013, its actions have profound global implications. China’s plan contains a commitment that its CO2 emissions will peak by 2030 or earlier, and that it will reduce the carbon intensity of the economy by between 60 per cent and 65 per cent by 2030. It also contains significant targets for non-fossil energy and forests.


Although most of these were unveiled as part of a joint US-China climate agreement last November, the significance of last month’s announcement lies also in the fact that China made this pledge in the framework of United Nations climate talks leading to a major summit in Paris this December.


Best efforts


China has pledged to make “best efforts” to peak earlier than 2030. This should be interpreted in the light of its approach to target-setting. By and large, it underpromises and overdelivers. China’s influential Energy Research Institute projects that the peak could come as early as 2020– 2022.


China’s target for non-fossil energy is also significant. It plans to increase renewables and nuclear from 11.4 per cent in 2014 to 20 per cent of primary energy by 2030. This equates to adding 800-1,000 gigawatts, equivalent to the entire current US generating capacity.


There are already promising signs. Chinese consumption of coal – which currently makes up 66 per cent of primary energy consumption – declined in 2014.


There are also uncertainties, however. Most important is China’s future GDP growth, which will significantly affect the level and timing of its emissions peak. Another critical unknown is what happens after its emissions peak: will they plateau for some time, or decline?


China’s most significant policy lever is its five-year plan process. Government officials’ career prospects depend on meeting their five-year plan targets, so they strongly shape government behaviour. In a departure, the forthcoming 13th five-year plan (2016– 2020) is expected to include a cap on coal consumption and energy-related CO2 emissions.


China is moving ahead with other policies, including trialling low-carbon city experiments as well as emissions trading pilot schemes. The government has announced its intention to roll out a national emissions trading scheme by early 2017, though many Chinese policy experts are deeply sceptical about this time line.


China has begun this transition at a far earlier level of economic development compared with western countries. It may be an economic powerhouse but its per-capita GDP stands at just under $7,600 (€6,925). It is expected to add 250 million people to its cities over the next 15 years, all aspiring to more energy-intensive lifestyles.


Air pollution


China’s leaders “get” climate change but this is not the primary driver of policy. Concern over air pollution has been much more significant in recent years. Premier Li declared a “war on pollution” last year, and rapid steps have been taken to clean up air quality. Since this involves closing down coal power plants and heavy industry, it also benefits the climate.


China also has energy security concerns, though these are less severe than a decade ago. Transitioning from fossil fuels is seen as a way to enhance energy security.


More broadly, China’s climate plan is part of its medium-term economic restructuring. Its leaders recognise that the past model of development based on energy- intensive heavy industry cannot continue, and China is also keen to capture low-carbon growth markets.


The importance of the plan also lies in its global political consequences. For a country that so jealously guards its independence, it was significant that China framed these domestic targets as its contribution to UN talks leading to the Paris summit.


Transparency and accountability remain critical issues, however. One of the most important functions performed by international agreements is to enable countries to be more certain of others’ actions. A key unknown for the Paris talks is what China is prepared to accept in terms of external review of its emissions data.


Cleaning up decades of pollution in China will not happen overnight, but its climate plan shows the country is moving decisively towards a lower-carbon development path.

Dr Diarmuid Torney is a lecturer in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University and author of European Climate Leadership in Question: Policies toward China and India (MIT Press, 2015).

China’s climate change plan represents decisive move

 

[Locutus]

Lol.

 

[Ludlow]

I guess we could debate on who does the best Elvis impersonation on that insurance commercial.

 

[Scooby]

A foolish waste of money unless they are doing it for the P. R.

CO2 is not a pollutant.

USA Supreme court says it is a while ago NRDC: Press Release - Supreme Court: Heat-Trapping Carbon Dioxide is Pollution