According to President Barack Obama, his pledge to reduce U.S. emissions is good for business, despite the claims of a variety of Republican politicians, who think that working towards reduced emissions must mean losing jobs and tanking the economy. But, as usual, they were being short-sighted and playing politics, while, to the surprise of many, a lot of major companies have stepped up to help the U.S. uphold it’s pledge.
Reducing carbon emissions is incredibly important to reigning in, much less reducing, global warming. Climate change, thanks to human activity, has already started to have some very visible and very bad consequences for the Earth. That’s why a number of nations are meeting in Paris in late November to discuss how to reduce global emissions. And in the U.S. we have to step up our game, because we’re one of the most significant producers of carbon emissions.
President Obama announced that 81 American companies have pledged to help reduce emissions. And these aren’t little mom and pop outfits, these are major companies. Coca Cola, Intel, Walmart, Johnson & Johnson, Apple, Google, Best Buy, Bank of America, General Motors and more have either signed the pledge, or have started seeking ways to reduce their carbon footprint. These companies are using solar panels, switching to renewable sources for their energy needs, or taking other steps to help out.
The President pointed out that reducing emissions isn’t some “tree hugger” issue, but one which impacts everyone. And it isn’t somehow antithetical to good business: companies across the nation are seeing that reducing carbon emissions can be good for business, and that, in turn, is good for the environment.
These pledges also make another good point: not all corporate executives are so money hungry that they can’t be bothered to think about the future. If sea levels rise out of control and everybody is busy scraping together a living from what farmland remains after years of drought, how many of them are going to care about buying the newest, biggest car or TV?