FACEBOOK MOVE BY GREENPEACE UNFRIENDS COAL

Facebook Unfriends Coal and Likes Clean Energy Thanks to Greenpeace
Raz Godelnik, December 16, 2011 (Triple Pundit)

"Greenpeace is celebrating…[its] Unfriend Coal Campaign that called on Facebook to power its data centers with clean energy instead of coal. After 20 months of mobilizing, agitating and negotiating to green Facebook, and with more than 700,000 people who took part in its campaign…Facebook finally agreed to go green, presenting a new commitment to give preference to clean and renewable energy.

"The new agreement between Greenpeace and Facebook shows not only the journey Facebook completed during these 20 months, but also how Greenpeace is becoming one of the most powerful players in the world when it comes to mobilizing businesses and encouraging them to do the right thing."

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"If you look at the details of the agreement, you see that Facebook wasn’t the only one that needed to make some adjustments to its initial positions – there are also differences between the original demands Greenpeace made with the pledges Facebook eventually made…

"…Greenpeace had to compromise with regards to its initial demand that Facebook will become coal free by 2021…[A]nother] element of vagueness…[is Facebook] pledging to give preference to clean energy…[W]ould it be at any cost, or only if it doesn’t cost the company?…Still, this is an important progress. As Greenpeace knows very well, there’s black and white only in the world of watchdogs. The world of green business is about the shades of grey and most of the time compromise is necessary to actually get something done…[W]e should give it a ‘like.’"