Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Physician, heal thyself: Google wants the EU to commit to suicidal 30% CO2 reduction, but will Google cut their own emissions 30%?

Google, BT, Ikea Urge EU to Set Tougher Carbon Goals
It's a common stereotype that businesses always push for fewer regulations, not more, but a large group of big-name companies is breaking that mold by calling for the EU to adopt more stringent climate change goals. The move comes even as a separate report concludes that nearly half of the U.K.'s largest companies lack targets to reduce their own CO2 emissions.  [So what's Google's target to reduce their own CO2 emissions? How much reduction did they achieve last year?]

More than 70 companies, including big names like BT, Ikea, Google, National Grid, Philips, Puma, Swiss Re and Unilever, signed a joint declaration (PDF) urging the European Union to reduce its CO2 emissions by 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. That's a much higher target than the 27-nation bloc's existing goal of a 20 percent reduction.

The companies claim such an aggressive target would spur investment, jump start the transition to a low-carbon economy and improve energy security, creating millions of new jobs in the process. [Where's the part about preventing bad weather and kidney stones?] The cuts would be much easier and cheaper to achieve because of the economic downturn, the companies said, but achieving the goal would still require appropriate market incentives.
Flashback: Healing the planet: Al Gore's Apple and Al Gore's Google exploit cheap coal power
Apple’s mega-facility is part of a cluster of gigantic new data centres coming on line in North Carolina that are powered largely by cheap and highly polluting coal power. Google has a 44,000-square-metre data centre in the state that will eventually consume an estimated 60 to 100 MW.
Flashback: google_guys
Google has gone to great lengths to conceal how much electricity it uses in its data centers...unlike its rival Yahoo, for instance, it has refused to reveal its overall carbon emissions.
....
And the article doesn't even mention their "gargantuan personal Boeing 767, which burns about 1,550 gallons/hour".

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