Major American companies say thanks but no thanks to Trump's environmental regulation rollbacks
President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday aimed at unraveling former President Barack Obama's climate change policies: "My action today is the latest in steps to grow American jobs," Trump said. But some of America's biggest companies are saying thanks but no thanks — and vowing to stick to environmental pledges made to Obama, Bloomberg Politics reports.
Walmart, for example, has already vowed to get half of its power from renewable energy sources by 2025. "This work is embedded in our business," said Walmart spokesman Kevin Gardner. "[It's] good for the business, our shareholders, and customers; if ultimately we are able to positively impact the environment in the process, that's a win too."
The world's biggest beer company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, pledged Tuesday to get 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025, and Mars Inc. wants to eliminate its emissions altogether by 2040, with vice president of corporate affairs Andy Pharoah saying the company is "disappointed the [Trump] administration has decided to roll back climate regulations."
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Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Ikea, Levi Strauss & Co., and Best Buy also said they would stick to climate change promises made to the Obama administration. And in a joint statement responding to Trump's executive order, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google's parent company, Alphabet, wrote: "We believe that strong clean energy and climate policies, like the Clean Power Plan, can make renewable energy supplies more robust and address the serious threat of climate change while also supporting American competitiveness, innovation, and job growth."
"Most big companies in the U.S. recognize that climate change is real," Columbia Business School professor Geoffrey M. Heal explained to Bloomberg Politics. "They need to move ahead on the climate change front no matter what Trump's government does."
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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