Climate Change Deniers Hijack Apple’s Board Meeting to Demand More Pollution

Tim Cook

Free market capitalism, according to conservatives and Republicans, is a market economy based on supply and demand with no government control, regulations, consumer protections, and definitely no outside interference. In fact, Republicans have campaigned explicitly on “getting government out of the way” for thirty years since their man-god Ronald Reagan convinced a large portion of the population that Americans’ greatest and deadliest enemy was the United States government. Subsequently, Republicans are loath to comport any interference in business, particularly corporate business, they claim is tantamount to Marxist and socialistic dictatorship; unless of course they are the ones interfering with business. Less than three weeks ago Republicans interfered with a large corporate manufacturing enterprise in Tennessee that effectively drove the company to state they would not expand anywhere within the southern United States.

Now, a conservative group is interfering with another very large corporation and, like Republicans interfering with Volkswagen in Tennessee, the corporation’s CEO to umbrage to the outside interference and lashed out at conservatives and investors who deny climate change is wreaking havoc on the environment. On Friday at Apple’s shareholder meeting, a Washington D.C.-based conservative belief tank, The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), showed up at the meeting and demanded that the board not pursue any environmental initiatives they claimed hurt the company’s bottom line. The conservative group demanded that Apple disclose what costs environmental initiatives were, and demanded the corporation reveal its relationship with “certain trade associations and business organizations promoting the amorphous concept of environmental sustainability.” Maybe NCPPR failed to observe what happened the last time conservatives interfered with a large corporation, because the response from Apple CEO Tim Cook was an angry and very blunt; “We do a lot of things for reasons besides profit motive, we want to leave the world better than we found it. If you want me to do things only for return on investment reasons, you should get out of this stock.”

Obviously, the conservative NCPPR was unhappy their attempt to interfere and dictate to a corporation who they could do business with and how their corporate mission was to be developed was rejected out of hand and told they “should get out.” The conservative group issued a press release claiming the Apple CEO told them and investors to “drop dead“  which is what conservative free market advocates would expect a corporation to tell any outside group interfering and dictating how they should conduct their own business. The director of NCPPR’s Free Enterprise Project, Justin Danhof said, “Here’s the bottom line: Apple is as obsessed with the theory of so-called climate change as its board member Al Gore is. The company’s CEO fervently wants investors who care more about return on investments than reducing CO2 emissions to no longer invest in Apple. Maybe they should take him up on that advice.” Subsequently, Apple’s board rejected the conservative demands and it further incensed NCPPR because their attempt at interfering with “free market capitalism” failed when they were unable to dictate to Apple who they could do business with, or stop them from making environmentally sustainable business decisions.

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Their response was predictably Republican and they criticized Apple of caring more about “so-called climate change” than earning profits for investors. Danhof continued criticizing Cook for not following the conservative group’s orders or accepting outside interference and said, “Millions of Apple shareholders now know that the company is involved with organizations that don’t appear to have the best interest of Apple’s investors in mind. After today’s meeting, investors can be certain that Apple is wasting untold amounts of shareholder money to combat so-called climate change. The only remaining question is how much?” According to Republican and conservative’s definition of “free market capitalism,” the question of how much is none of their business and it further demonstrates the rank hypocrisy of the conservative concept of free market capitalism. Conservatives and Republicans believe a business enterprise, no matter how large or small, is free to conduct business according to their own mission so long as it comports with Republican demands and if they do not, they will face intense interference; especially if they show concern for the environment.

Although Apple has a long way to go to get back into the good graces of many Americans by bringing their immense profits to America for tax purposes, it has taken some good first steps. For example, Apple brought assembly jobs back to America and created employment opportunities for Americans desperate for work, as well as making working conditions out of the country less dire. Tim Cook’s decision to deal and work with groups concerned, like Apple, with the environment and the devastation of climate change is one millions of Apple customers overwhelmingly support. Cook’s comments were also heard by a great number of Apple devotees who monitor every meeting the CEO is involved in for clues about new products and there, as of yet, were no condemnations of his remarks; the only criticism was from conservatives attempting to dictate how a private corporation should conduct its business.

It is remarkable that while many, many corporate CEOs think climate change is biblical god’s purview, Tim Cook has decided since climate change is manmade, it is up to man to take action to diminish its effect on man. According to Apple, it increased its renewable use from 35% in 2010 to 75% worldwide currently, and is aiming for 100% in the very near future. The company announced last year it was building one of the world’s largest solar arrays that will generate $11 million in annual revenue for shareholders as well as provide over 7,400 new jobs in California. The conservative NCPPR obviously thinks that is the wrong news for shareholders and the economy and took the time to interfere at Apple’s shareholder meeting and condemn Cook for not obeying their demand to separate the company from “trade associations and business organizations promoting the amorphous concept of environmental sustainability.”

Republicans and their conservative belief tanks cannot tolerate any business that is not adhering to their “definition of free market capitalism” that denies man’s intolerable effect on the Earth’s climate. Make no mistake that if Tim Cook lashed out a climate scientists and spent millions of Apple shareholders’ dollars to defeat environmental protections, Republicans and conservatives would hold him up as worthy of worship and point to the company’s success and profits as a thing to behold. This is the second time in less than three weeks that conservatives have belied their free market religion and interfered with a very, very large and extremely profitable corporation with similar results. Volkswagen pledged to expand anyplace but the South due to conservative’s lies and interference with its plant in Tennessee, and now Apple CEO Tim Cook bluntly told them and any shareholder denying climate change to get out and stay out of Apple’s vision of what “free market capitalism” could be if Republicans would butt out of other corporations’ affairs and let them make greater profits by embracing policies to, as Cook put it, “leave the world better than we found it;” something that is anathema to Republicans and the majority of their corporate donors.


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