At a conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Lisa Jackson was joining the tech company. Others perceive this huge step as a confirmation of Apple’s dedication to save the environment and promote greener forms of energy.
A step in the right direction
CEO Tim Cook was very pleased to tell the world that Jackson was joining the family. The CEO said that they have been strongly focused on making the company clean and green over the past few years. In Cook’s interview at the conference, he elaborately explained the current expansion plans of the company. Cook proudly announced that Apple has already eliminated the use of toxic materials in their products, and the data centers holding Apple’s huge digital information are now being run using renewable energy sources. It is expected that Jackson will share her experience and insights as a former US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator with her new team.
Apple has always been the target of criticism of energy conservation organizations as well as environmentalist movements. Some of its products were said to contain harmful materials thus greatly contributing to pollution. It has also been reported that Apple’s data centers use too much natural resources making it a target of organizations engaged in conservation efforts.
The Jackson initiative
Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Lisa Jackson had a bright future ahead of her after graduating from Princeton and Tulane University with a degree in chemical engineering. She started working for the EPA in 1987 as a staff-engineer. After years of continued service to the agency, her dedication was noticed by President Obama in late 2008 and made her the Administrator of the EPA in 2009. On February 2013, Jackson announced her retirement.
In the span of Jackson’s managerial career in EPA, she was able to contribute much in terms of energy efficiency and environmental conservation. One of her trademark acts as Administrator was the listing of carbon dioxide as a toxin under the Clean Air Act. Another milestone in her career is the setting of firm standards regarding the practical use of fuels in cars.
A clean and green Apple
Last March, Apple declared that their data centers were already 100% relying on renewable energy. The said data centers are being run by geothermal, wind, hydroelectric and solar energy and are now in effect contributing to conservation of the world’s limited natural resources. Lisa Jackson’s inclusion to the group is a shout out to the world that Apple’s commitment towards energy and environmental conservation is absolute.
Since Apple has been fairly vigilant about converting all the facilities to become more sustainable the main concern that Jackson will be focusing on is the compliance of Apple’s partners to its new mandates. In 2011, Apple scrutinized its partners for compliance to its green policies, but more than a dozen failures were noted. Experts believe that Jackson’s iron clad philosophy when it comes to environmental policies and energy conservation will be tested to the limit when it comes to putting Apple’s suppliers in line.
Photo Credit: Lisa Jackson
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