Apple CEO Tim Cook slams US decision to withdraw from climate deal

Written by

Saheli Roy Choudhury, CNBC:

After President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States will withdraw from the landmark Paris climate agreement, Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed his disappointment with the decision.

In an email to employees, which was obtained by CNBC, Cook said he had tried to push Trump prior to the decision to keep the U.S. in the agreement.

And here’s the email:

Team,

I know many of you share my disappointment with the White House’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. I spoke with President Trump on Tuesday and tried to persuade him to keep the U.S. in the agreement. But it wasn’t enough.

Climate change is real and we all share a responsibility to fight it. I want to reassure you that today’s developments will have no impact on Apple’s efforts to protect the environment. We power nearly all of our operations with renewable energy, which we believe is an example of something that’s good for our planet and makes good business sense as well.

We will keep working toward the ambitious goals of a closed-loop supply chain, and to eventually stop mining new materials altogether. Of course, we’re going to keep working with our suppliers to help them do more to power their businesses with clean energy. And we will keep challenging ourselves to do even more. Knowing the good work that we and countless others around the world are doing, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about our planet’s future.

Our mission has always been to leave the world better than we found it. We will never waver, because we know that future generations depend on us.

Your work is as important today as it has ever been. Thank you for your commitment to making a difference every single day.

Tim

A quote from Trump’s speech:

I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.

In response, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto tweeted: