Mark Zuckerberg is the CEO of Facebook. His Facebook profile doesn’t list his relationship status, but if it did, it might say “in a relationship with coal”.
Everyone has had a friend in a destructive relationship — a relationship that you just know is going to hurt your friend in the long run, and which also hurts others around it. Mark Zuckerberg and his company certainly have an electric relationship with coal power, but we can see that it just isn’t sustainable.
The affair began in January, when Zuckerberg announced that he would build a data centre in Prineville, Oregon, choosing coal to power it. Then he announced that he would double the size of the storage facility, also doubling his dependence on coal despite its dirty reputation.
It was Zuckerberg’s decision to take the plunge with coal, rather than weigh other attractive options like wind or solar, that drove us to begin an intervention. In a letter to Zuckerberg on September 1st, Greenpeace’s Executive Director, Kumi Naidoo, expressed his concern:
"No global business leader, particularly not one who reaches so many people daily, could deny that in this time it is both a threat to a company’s reputation and financial health risk to ignore their company’s environmental impacts."
Half-a-million Facebook friends also tried to steer Zuckerberg in a healthier direction, suggesting he seek some renewable energy and look for places that have an abundance of fresh, sustainable options.
Unfortunately, Facebook’s response indicates that Zuckerberg is still afraid of commitment.
We want to see Facebook thrive. And we want to make sure that the rest of us don’t suffer from the company’s bad choices. The video posted above is another attempt to help Facebook face reality: coal is going to cause us all pain. It’s time to end the relationship.
If you want to help Facebook get a charge from renewable energy, please share the video with others. With your help, we can get Facebook to change its relationship status with coal.