Why Earth Day Matters at Bloomberg

The following text is adapted from prepared remarks at a Bloomberg Earth Day panel discussing Bloomberg Philanthropies' Vibrant Oceans Initiative.
The work that Bloomberg employees do is helping the world meet the big environmental challenges we face. That’s something we can be proud of.
Our company is showing that what’s good for the environment is also good for business.
Just to give you one example: We built a solar power facility in Princeton that provides half of the power for our offices there – at a rate cheaper than if we were buying power from the grid.
When we generate more energy than we need, we sell the excess back to the grid. That increases the amount of solar power local homes and businesses are using – and it saves us money.
We’re also setting a strong example through our volunteer program.
Each year, employees volunteer thousands of hours to projects that protect the environment and help us confront climate change. We clean public parks and waterways, and plant trees and beach grass, which protects coastlines from rising seas and severe storms.
Of course, everyone at the company also contributes to the work of Bloomberg Philanthropies, because almost all of the company’s profits go to support our foundation.
The environment is a major focus of our foundation – along with education, the arts, public health, and government innovation. Our environmental program is steadily growing – and one of the largest impacts we’ve had is through our partnership with the Sierra Club to move the U.S. economy away from its dependence on coal.
Coal pollution is the number one contributor to our nation's carbon footprint, and causes many serious health problems. So through our Beyond Coal campaign, we’re working to close down coal plants and replace them with cleaner energy.
Since 2011, we’ve helped retire nearly 190 coal plants. As a result, 5,500 fewer people are dying each year from coal pollution than did just four years ago. Less dependence on coal is the reason why the U.S. has reduced its carbon footprint more than any other country in the last decade.
So all Bloomberg employees have made an incredible impact on climate change, just by working here. That’s something everyone can take pride in.
Last year, our foundation began tackling another major environmental threat that is also a serious public health issue: overfishing, which means taking more fish out of the ocean than can be naturally replaced.
More than three billion people depend on fish as their primary source of protein, or their primary source of income – or in many cases, both.
Last year, we began working to stop overfishing in three countries with large fishing industries: Brazil, Chile, and the Philippines. We joined with three great partners who are working to preserve the oceans: Rare, Oceana, and Encourage Capital.
Our oceans program is still young, but we’re already seeing progress – and having a real impact on people’s lives.
Every individual at Bloomberg deserves credit for helping make that possible.

Why Earth Day Matters at Bloomberg 2015-04-22T14:49:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Unknown