Amazon has taken the first steps in its Climate Pledge plan and will build three new solar facilities, two will be located in the U.S. and one in Spain. The company has been under pressure from its employees and the public to take action against climate change.
In the U.S. they will build in Northern Virginia and Lee County, Illinois with a combined capacity of 180MW to produce around 400,000MWh of electricity per year. The solar farm in Spain is to be located southeast of Sevilla and is said that it will produce at 149MW capacity. This is to be their first project in Spain.
Illinois, JB Pritzker, Illinois Governor released a statement:
As we work to put our state on a path to 100% clean and renewable energy, Illinois is proud to have Amazon invest in a major solar project in our state. Addressing climate change will take all of us working together, and leadership from state governments and the business community will demonstrate how we can sustainably power a modern economy and create good-paying jobs.
In an open letter to company CEO Jeff Bezos, thousands of Amazon employees called for the company to become a leader in taking action against climate change, rather than fund fossil fuel companies. The Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, demanded the company take action.
Amazon responded with The Climate Pledge plan. In the plan, they outlined a commitment to have zero carbon emissions by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement, and urged other companies to join them.
This is a positive step by the company, but Amazon has come under recent scrutiny again for not signing the United For The Paris Agreement letter. The letter has been signed by many including tech giants Apple, Tesla, Google, and Microsoft. This letter calls for the Trump administration to stay in the Paris Agreement. Amazon has not commented on why they have not signed the letter.
Amazon employees are also calling for more, saying they still lack a company-wide strategy for change. Employees also say that Amazon still contradicts itself by its continued support of the fossil fuel industry.
