Google, Yahoo, and Facebook Receive High Grades From Greenpeace

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Google, Yahoo, and Facebook Receive High Grades From Greenpeace

In a recent Greenpeace study called “How Clean Is Your Energy”, certain technology companies such as Facebook, Inc, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) earned high marks. Other companies- namely Apple, Twitter, and Amazon.com did not rank so well on the list.

What makes a technology company score a high ranking on this list? It may have something to do with the utilization of green energy. Google has actively  worked to promote clean and renewable sources.  Yahoo was actually one of the first tech companies to place datacenters in locations that feature natural renewable sources, and Facebook fulfilled a policy that would make pure energy the standard for future datacenters.

Why did Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Twitter, Inc., and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) get low marks? Apple doesn’t like to share information about their power usage neither do they spend a lot of time lobbying for cleaner utility options. Amazon scored low marks in just about everything except datacenter efficiency.

The need for greener technology is high. As the non-profit’s media officer David Pomerantz reports, internet cloud services that provide electronic mail, video streaming, and social media communications increase the need for datacenters. Many of these rely of electricity that’s fueled by the burning of coal, which in turn creates more harmful carbon gas emissions. And this is why Greenpeace finds the importance of ranking technology companies in hopes of inspiring them to change the way they provide service.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how the most mundane things we do everyday has such an impact(positive or negative) on the rest of the world. It’s good to know that Greenpeace is keeping track on which companies are successfully doing their part by keeping their company “green”. It’s also great that Facebook, Yahoo, and Google receive high marks. In all honesty, I was surprised that Apple scored so low because they are usually the leaders when it comes to innovative  technologies.

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