Google and Apple Condemn Clean Power Plan Repeal

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) joined Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in condemning the repeal of the Climate Power Plan (CPP) with Google filing their comment hours before Thursday’s (April 26) deadline.

The Climate Power Plan, which was introduced in 2015, stated that power plants in the U.S. had to cut their greenhouse emissions roughly 30 percent by 2030.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set emissions targets for each states and the states had to find a way to reach the target. In  March 2017, the Trump Administration decided to roll back the order completely with the EPA estimating that repealing the CPP could lead up to $33 billion dollars in avoided compliance costs in 2030.

It should be noted that as soon the CPP was finalised, there were 150 entities including 27 states, 24 trade associations and 37 rural electric co-ops that challenged the order. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has been holding CPP litigation since April 28, 2017.

The EPA had been accepting comments on the proposed repeal and Google filed their comments which it shared with TechCrunch.

“Wind and solar deployment—as well as the associated supply chains—have been among the fastest-growing sectors of the U.S. economy in recent years,” the company writes in the letter dated April 25, “with job growth rates significantly exceeding the growth rate of the overall labor force.”

Further, Google cited that the CPP can continue to drive innovation and job growth. Of note, Google is one of the few companies to rely its energy needs completely on renewable energy, with the majority of its energy source coming from wind energy.

In early April, Apple became the first company to voice its opinion against the proposed CPP repeal.

As the Investing News Network ((INN) previously reported, Apple is globally powered by 100 per cent renewable energy and the company highlighted this in their comments to EPA.

“Apple is committed to leaving the world better than we found it. Part of our commitment is to reduce our own impact on climate change by using renewable energy sources and driving energy efficiency in our products and facilities,” Robert Redlinger, global energy team lead at Apple said in the statement.

Apple highlighted four major points in its letter to EPA with one being the CPP enabling the U.S, to reassert itself as a Global leader and promoting a domestic clean energy economy.

“Without comprehensive federal action on climate change, the United States jeopardizes its competitive position in clean-energy technologies and services, which is a growing, important, and highly- profitable industry. Currently, China leads investment in that sector, with an estimated 50 GW of new solar energy installed in 2017,” Redlinger said.

Apple also stressed that the CPP would give domestic companies a competitive edge while also saying that CPP provides achievable targets with no adverse impact on reliability or resiliency.

“The Clean Power Plan provides a national framework enabling states to ensure that renewable generation resources and more traditional forms of electricity generation are used in an integrated manner to support a reliable and resilient electricity grid,” Redlinger said.

With the deadline for accepting comments now over, it’s now up to EPA to respond.

The stocks of Alphabet, Google’s parent company closed at $1,040.04 on Thursday, up by 1.85 percent. Apple closed the day at $164.22, with a 0.35 percent increase.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Bala Yogesh, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.