Greenpeace stages iCloud protest at Apple's Cupertino HQ
updated 01:37 pm EDT, Tue May 15, 2012
Campaign over 'cloud' pollution escalates
Environmental activist group Greenpeace has staged a protest at Apple's Cupertino headquarters, notes AppleInsider. Images were projected onto the main building overnight, including supportive messages from users on Twitter and Facebook. Activists also secured themselves inside a so-called "survival device," measuring 8 feet tall and 10 feet wide. Four activists dressed themselves as iPhones, complete with screens again displaying messages from Twitter and Facebook.
The event was continuation of a Greenpeace campaign against pollution linked to datacenters. Major datacenters can consume high amounts of electricity, and Greenpeace's position is that companies like Apple should be relying on renewable energy, rather than sources like coal. In particular Apple's iCloud-focused datacenter in Maiden, North Carolina has been accused of primarily relying on a local coal grid. The company is working on a solar array and fuel cells, but Greenpeace has suggested that they will provide just a fraction of the facility's power. Apple, though, has disputed these claims, and touted that a future Oregon center will be entirely powered by renewable energy.
As a part of a statement about Tuesday's protest, Greenpeace says that over 215,000 people have signed a "Clean Our Cloud" petition asking Apple to run iCloud using renewable sources. The last major related protest took place at Apple's offices in Cork, Ireland, where activists actually scaled the side of a building and posted signs on it.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Feb 2006
Here we go again to raise funds and get publicity
Ick and Ewww once again Greenpeace attacks a target based on flawed information to garner publicity for a legitimate issue. Apple's environmental record is real and impressive versus publicity focused in other companies and similar to his practices on labor by its suppliers. Other companies simply do not do this, report cosmetic data but little of substance, or ignore the issue entirely - Apple gets publicity so here we go again.