Greenpeace, Top Users Ask Pinterest to Go Green on Oversized Pinboards at Company HQ

SAN FRANCISCO, May 6, 2014 — Greenpeace activists and influential users of Pinterest, the social network and visual search tool, asked Pinterest employees to create a greener internet by becoming the next tech company to power its platform with renewable energy at a demonstration outside of the company’s headquarters this morning. The activists set up two 13’ tall, 15’ wide “pinboards” outside of the Pinterest office in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco, each featuring real-life “pins” with the message “Make Our Pins Green”. Designers, photographers and other influential Pinterest users who are partnering with Greenpeace’s #clickclean campaign for a green internet designed many of the pins on the boards. Photos available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/greenpeaceusa09/sets/72157643361163803/ “As a mom of three boys who are very technology savvy, paired with my role in social media with Pinterest an integral part of what I use every day, it would great to be positively part of helping Pinterest’s platform go green,” said Paula Coop McCrory, a visual artist with over 4 million followers on Pinterest. “Being environmentally friendly is important to me and my family. I'd love to be able to say that Pinterest is now going green, too.'” The activity featured pins designed by eight Pinterest users who have close to five million followers combined. Activists also set up a solar-powered café outside the headquarters in a small trailer, painted with a green Pinterest logo and topped with functioning solar panels. They offered Pinterest employees cupcakes, also iced with a green pinterest logo, and coffee, kept warm by burners drawing electricity from the solar panels. Pinterest is growing fast, with an estimated 70 million users who have created 750 million boards and 30 billion pins. [1] That data growth requires increasing amount of electricity to power it, and Pinterest has yet to make a commitment to power its growing energy footprint with renewable energy, or to share details about the size of its energy footprint. Apple, Facebook and Google have each committed to powering their internet operations with 100 % renewable energy, according to a report Greenpeace released last month, “Clicking Clean: How Companies are Creating the Green Internet.” [2] Other fast-growing internet companies like Box and Salesforce have also committed to 100 % renewable energy. “Pinterest is growing fast, and so is its energy use” said Greenpeace Senior IT Analyst Gary Cook. “Now is the right time for Pinterest to become the next leader of a green internet, by committing to power all of our pins and pinboards with 100 % renewable energy.” The Clicking Clean report detailed how the internet’s energy footprint is growing rapidly, and how modern, fast-growing companies like Pinterest risk tying the new digital economy to old, polluting forms of energy that cause global warming if they do not shift toward renewable energy. Pinterest uses Amazon Web Services to power the data behind its platform. Amazon Web Services’ data centers are powered by only 15 % renewable energy – the rest of its electricity comes from coal, gas and nuclear power, according to the report. Other companies using Amazon Web Services include Netflix, Spotify, Vine, Yelp, AirBnB and Reddit. Greenpeace is pushing all major internet companies to go green, with a focus on social media in its #clickclean campaign. Last month, Greenpeace activists unveiled a new green bird logo for Twitter outside the company’s San Francisco headquarters, and urged the company to commit to 100 % renewable energy.

Energy [R]evolution report details how US can transition to nearly 100% renewable energy Scenario dramatically cuts carbon pollution while creating more energy sector jobs

Washington DC - The United States can quickly transition to nearly 100% renewable energy and phase out coal and nuclear power, according to a major new report from Greenpeace and the Global Wind Energy Council. Energy [R]evolution - A Sustainable USA Energy Outlook provides a blueprint for transforming our electricity, transportation, and heating systems to dramatically reduce carbon pollution, and demonstrates to policymakers and investors that rapid changes in the way we produce, distribute, and consume energy are possible and cost effective. “Growing concerns about climate change and air pollution, along with quickly falling costs of renewable energy, are already upending the utility industry’s business model and threatening to turn fossil fuel reserves into stranded assets. The Energy [R]evolution report demonstrates that the rapid changes in the energy sector could expand dramatically, with major implications for many industries,” said Sven Teske, a renewable energy expert with Greenpeace International. The Energy [R]evolution details how by 2050, renewable energy sources could provide around 97% of electricity produced in the USA and 94% of our total heating and cooling demand, accounting for around 92% of our final energy demand. The blueprint would lead to about 1.5 million energy-related jobs in 2030 - 35% more than projected under the “business as usual” scenario outlined by the Energy Information Agency 2013 Annual Outlook. By phasing out coal and oil, fuel cost savings in the scenario described would be $6.1 trillion, or $153 billion per year, and overall costs would be about 50% lower than the government outlook. The United States would reduce carbon pollution 39% by 2025 and 60% by 2030 (below 2005 levels). “The most recent National Climate Assessment makes it very clear that we need national policies to expedite a clean energy economy. Fortunately, the energy market is phasing out coal and phasing in renewable energy at a rapid pace, but this must be quickened to avoid climate consequences much worse than the wildfires, droughts, and superstorms the country is already experiencing," said Kyle Ash, Senior Legislative Representative for Greenpeace USA, “We need policymakers to stop enabling fossil fuel companies, and to make these climate polluters responsible for the damage they are doing.” This report is the latest in a series of global, regional, and national Energy [R]evolution scenarios which are available at www.energyblueprint.info.

Greenpeace: Obama climate rules send signal to utilities to clean up now Response to the announcement of new EPA limits to global warming pollution produced by power plants

Greenpeace USA Climate and Energy Campaign Director Gabe Wisniewski released the following statement: "President Obama's proposed rule to limit power plants’ global warming pollution sends a clear signal to electric utilities: the time has come to stop clinging to century-old business models that cause global warming and poison our communities by burning coal and gas, and heed the growing demands from customers to switch to the efficient, renewable energy of today. The new rule shows that the Obama administration is serious about taking action on climate change, but the Administration could and should strengthen it considerably. Greenpeace’s Energy Revolution analysis, released in May, demonstrates that from a technical perspective, the US power sector could achieve almost twice the reductions proposed in the rule. “While coal companies, utilities, and their front groups like ALEC and Americans for Prosperity are playing to script and offering the same old chicken little warnings about how clean energy will kill the economy in response to the new EPA rules, the most successful and innovative businesses in the country are sprinting to adopt efficient, renewable energy. Leading technology companies like Apple, Facebook and Google have all committed to power with 100 % renewable energy, and dozens of other Fortune 500 companies are joining them. “The devastating storms and droughts of the past few years underscore America’s obligation to move toward a 100 % renewable energy economy as quickly as possible, and limiting the global warming pollution from power plants is a key step to help us get there. Utilities like Duke Energy, the nation’s largest, should not waste another day burning coal, gas and blocking renewable energy, and join the modern economy that is racing ahead toward renewable energy.” ### Greenpeace released a report in May, “Energy [R]evolution - A Sustainable USA Energy Outlook,” which details how the US economy can quickly transition to nearly 100% renewable energy.