Mooney, Chris (November 6, 2014) Use the Web? Congrats, you’re an environmentalist: Washington Post. Retrieved August 23, 2015 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2014/11/06/like-kite-surfing-the-internet-why-google-microsoft-and-yahoo-are-buying-up-wind-energy/
Google, Yahoo, and Bing have all decided to switch to wind power. These three companies have entered into “ power purchase agreements (PPAs) with wind farms to ensure a steady stream of power, at a fixed cost, over a period as long as several decades.” Google’s PPA doesn’t mean that their facilities are literally powered by wind energy. However, it means that they are in an agreement with a wind power company and that Google’s actions are adding more overall wind power to the world. These 3 companies make up for 90% of the search engines people in the U.S. use, so by all of them turning to wind energy they are making the world a far more eco-friendly place and greatly reducing their carbon footprint.
This is environmental science because these three companies are all creating a healthier environment to live in. By these companies setting a good example of being eco-friendly they could influence others to do the same. If more and more companies moved to wind energy, our environment would be much cleaner and we would have much less of a carbon footprint as a country.
Its relieving to see that these companies are attempting to reduce their carbon footprint. However, I wonder if they are truly wanting to be environmentally conscious, or if they are only switching to wind power to appeal to the public eye.
That is a good point that they could be doing it to look better in the public eye. I hadn’t thought about that before. Either way it is beneficial though!!
The fact that many major companies are switching to wind power is a great way to promote it as a beneficial resource.