Apple is the fourth major US corporation who has recently left due to differences regarding policies over climate change. Pacific Gas and Electricity, PNM Resources and Exelon have all left because they agree with Apple.
Apple "supports regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and it is frustrating to find the chamber at odds with us in this effort," said Apple vice president Catherine Novelli, on Tuesday.
In response a spokesman for the Chamber said, "The US Chamber of Commerce continues to support strong federal legislation and a binding international agreement to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change."
And he continues, "While we'll continue to represent the broad majority of our membership on this goal, we recognize that there are some companies who stand to gain more than others with the current options on the table," said chamber spokesman Eric Wohlschlegel.
The most meaningful word in that first quote is “international”. What Mr. Wohlschlegel is really saying is that Apple’s products are manufactured overseas where greenhouse regulations are weak and thus overhead expenses are lower. So the US should still be able to pollute as much as it wants to in order to be competitive. An extremely anemic and amoral argument at best.
The US Chamber of Commerce as a representative of the US should become the world’s role model for corporations in combating global warming. It is our responsibility to lead other nations to uphold strict environmental standards, the US needs to take a long terms approach to this issue.
It is not entirely true for The US Chamber to say our uncompetitiveness and therefore job loss would occur if the US followed stricter environmental rules. In the far east where most electronics are manufactured the cost of living is much less than it is here in the US and therefore the wages are much lower. Whether this is appropriate and whether companies like Apple take advantage of this situation has nothing to due with environmental laws and therefore for this discussion is misleading.
Discussing health care relative to the cost of manufacturing would be much more appropriate. Specifically the automotive industry in this country demise was in a large part due to the US’s major competitors based in countries where their heath care is for the most part “socialized”. Just the mention of socialized health care would cause the US Chamber and its members to scream in utter agony.
Not facing the real truths behind US corporations lack of competitiveness in the world market will only prolong the inevitable, we will lose millions of jobs but not because we follow strict environmental standards. Our inability to face facts and release old false ideals that for years have been upheld by our falsely supported economic system and ridiculously enormous military industrial complex will actually be our demise.
No comments:
Post a Comment