Apple's New Recycling Program is OK, But Its Clean Energy Program Deserves Headlines

Solar panels at an Apple data center in NC

Other than giving the world a better gadget, Apple icon Steve Jobs never had much interest in improving conditions for humans or our habitat. But this week, Apple is finally rolling out an Apple product recycling program. The question is, will it do much good that isn't being done already?

I was getting rid of an iPod Touch last year and found there are already plenty of trade-in and buyback programs through places like Amazon and Best Buy, and I got significantly more than either of those offered by wiping the data and selling it myself on Craigslist. It's good Apple is giving folks another option, but I'm assuming Apple plans to refurbish & resell what they're taking back from customers at a tidy profit.

Apple deserves much more credit for what it's doing on clean energy. A recent Greenpeace report gave Apple the top score on powering the internet with clean energy, edging out Amazon and Facebook. Meanwhile, Amazon and Twitter flunked for their heavy reliance on dirty coal and fracked natural gas.

Greenpeace Rips Canada For Funding More Tar Sands Promos (Video)

Can you believe Canada is spending $16 million this year on television advertisements trying to convince people that tar sands aren't as environment-destroying and climate-disrupting as you think? Learn more at Greenpeace Canada:

Celebrating 40 Years of Pissing Off the Powerful (Video)

Happy 40th birthday, Greenpeace! (Naughty word warning.)

This Valentine's Day, Can Eric Cantor Find Polluter Love?

Greenpeace has updated PolluterHarmony.com for the 112th Congress:



Guess who's among the featured profiles? Virginia's own Rep. Eric Cantor.

Facebook Falling Behind Yahoo & Google in Online Green Race

If you need to keep your building cool, why not put it in a place that's freezing most of the year?

Yahoo is building a new data center in Lockport, NY, not far from Niagara Falls, that will be cooled in part by the bitter winds that blow off Lake Ontario. (As a Syracuse University graduate, I can vouch for how effective the lake wind is at cooling.)

Google had an idea to go one step further, filing a patent for an offshore data center that would use wave power for energy & ocean water for cooling. But Google filed the patent in 2008 & there doesn't seem to be any public evidence it's moving forward.

Yahoo & Google have been doing their part to reduce their carbon footprints, but what about Facebook? For its new data center, Facebook chose coal power. Facebook is now the target of a Greenpeace campaign to reject dirty coal, featuring this wicked awesome parody of the upcoming movie about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, The Social Network:

PolluterHarmony's Latest Lovebird: "Bob McD" from Virginia

See more at PolluterHarmony.com:

How Do Politicians Find Polluter Love?

Are you a politician who's eager to sell out to polluters, but haven't been able to find the right match? This Valentine's Day, there's a new website to help -- PolluterHarmony.com.

Just listen to this testimonial from legendary polluter & front group funder Charles Koch:

When the PolluterHarmony compatibility test matched me up with a Democratic senator from Arkansas, I was sure the site was a scam. How could a Libertarian like me possibly relate to a Democrat? But then I read Blanche's profile, I realized maybe I was wrong. She wrote that she loves discovering new places, especially for oil drilling. More importantly, she considers herself someone who likes taking risks, like with public health and safety. Best of all, she had one of the worst environmental voting records of any Democrat on Capitol Hill.

When we first met, I knew I'd found my match. Within a few weeks, I was funneling thousands of dollars into her campaign fund while she quietly worked to stall climate and clean energy policy.

And check out this story from a polluter lobbyist matched up with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK):

"It's like we finish each other's legislation." Hilarious! Great Valentine's Day parody from Greenpeace.