Amazon: We Will Beat Paris Climate Accord Deadline by a Decade
HEATING UP
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced Thursday that the online retail giant will become the first signatory on the “Climate Pledge,” a pact among businesses to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement 10 years ahead of schedule. The announcement was made alongside former United Nations climate leaders and comes a day before more than 1,000 Amazon employees are set to join workers around the world in a strike to bring attention to climate change. “[Earth is the] best planet in the solar system,” Bezos said, according to Venture Beat. “We need to take care of it.” President Trump pulled the U.S. from the Paris Agreement in 2017. Dave Clark, senior vice president of Amazon Operations, tweeted that the company has already ordered 100,000 electric delivery vehicles, “the largest order of electric delivery vehicles ever.”
The move came as the Trump administration announced its “One National Program Rule,” granting the federal government sole authority in setting fuel-economy standards in the U.S. Major car maker and California formed their own agreement to lower emissions in 2013 with stricter standards for buyers in the state.