Greenpeace’s Unfriend Coal Campaign and Facebook

INFM612: Case Study 2 Name: Pujita Tipnis UID: <deleted>

Does it matter : How Facebook sources its power for its data centers ?

Yes, it does matterFacebook, being a big brand, must set an example to its usersBeing a user makes one contribute to its wrong doing

Each individual equally responsible to protect environmentDirtying the environment leads to even more illnesses and diseasesNeed, for saving a clean planet for our future generations

FB= Facebook; Bn= Billion; ~1.05 lbs. of coal is required to generate 1 kWh of electricity2; predicted usage of elec.0

2010

2015

2020

0500

1000150020002500

Col-umn1

1.49 bn Active FB users1

1308.6 bn kWh of electricity is used by

922.168 lbs. of coal

Single FB user

878.255 kWh of electricity

bn k

Wh

of e

lect

ricity

->

Year ->

uses

Criteria providing tipping point

FB’s ill environmental actions encourages users to do the sameIf users don’t do anything about it -> More users feel ok to join FBMore power needed for data centers = more coal = more CO2 in the atmosphere =

climate change + diseases + eventual species extinctionA few responsible people cannot contribute much -> Larger crowd needed to make the change. That’s where FB can cause a positive impactIf FB does nothing = users can’t do much = everyone gets negatively impacted eventually

GLOBAL BRAND

HIGH POPULARITY INFLUENTIAL

is indi

cate

s

mak

es it

More users = more coal and also = more money for FB

an e

xam

ple

for

users

Facebook: Setting an environmental example for the growing IT industry

Yes, FB has an ethical obligation to use its purchasing power, global brand and corporate influence to set an environmental example for the rest of the growing IT industryFB must Lead By Example

Purchasing Power

Opt for environment-friendly options to power data centers, even if expensiveInvest in performing research to identify better and optimal ways to generate clean energyAcquire companies that promote and help become eco-friendly instead of those that already have a major carbon footprintFreedom to control location of and methods adopted to building infrastructureThereby, encourage other IT giants to follow the lead

Global Brand

More a global brand, more the impact on users and organizationsSocial responsibility3

Maintain good reputationBe sensitive to public sentiment. Going against some, could lead to possible financial lossExhibit good corporate citizenship4

Corporate Influence

Influence competitors and other organizations by setting good examplePromote environment-friendliness over website to influence usersAdopt as organizational culture and values, instilling it into employeesMore the people influenced, more the people to follow the lead.

More the people who follow, more the organizations to be impacted

History of the ‘Unfriend Coal’ Campaign & Greenpeace’s tactics

Jan 2010: Start talks on their website about rumors of Facebook building a new data center that would run on power generated by a power plant that primarily uses coal5

(Jan 21, 2010: FB announces its decision to open a new data center in Prineville, OR)Feb 2010: GP begin their protest against FB; Call the cause “Unfriend Coal”Unknown date: GP creates a Facebook group page to educate and provide frequent updates to its users about FB’s latest decision(July 2010: FB decides to double the size of the new data center which meant using more coal)Sept 1, 2010: GP’s Intl. Exec. Dir., Kumi Naidoo, writes a letter to FB CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, “expressing disappointment at FB’s latest decision” thereby requesting Mark to “take a leadership position in addressing climate change” [From case-study](Sept 2, 2010: FB’s Dir. of Policy Communications, Barry Schnitt, responds to media by stating that decisions were made with energy efficiency in mind and later responds on GP’s website, pointing out that GP too, operated on rented servers whose data centers consumed coal6)Sept 16, 2010: Despite Schnitt’s response, GP posts an animated video depicting FB’s wrong decision related to building a non-environment-friendly data center

FB= Facebook; GP= Greenpeace; Points in ‘( )’ refer to actions taken by FB

Greenpeace tactic representing greatest threat to FB’s reputation

Immediately caught media’s attentionThrough previous tactics, audience was limited to GP supporters on its website as well as FBThrough this tactic, news would reach larger audience via the mediaLarger the audience, more the reputation of FB at stake due to negative attention from media and consumersThus, greater the pressure on FB to respond to GP in order to mitigate further tarnishing of its reputation

Kumi Naidoo posting his letter to Mark Zuckerberg over GP’s Facebook page

Actions Facebook Management should initiate going forward

Increase use of clean energy and reduce carbon footprint7

Keep users informed about the way it powers its service8

Advocate use of clean energy at local, national and international levels9

Invest in doing research on ways to decrease carbon footprintPartner with companies that share same (environmental) beliefs and valuesOpt to do business with / consult organizations that are dedicated towards promoting ways to use clean energySet an example by building environment-friendly workspace and promoting values through organizational cultureCan choose to fund organizations that strive towards protecting the environment

References

0 Case study1 Total Facebook monthly active users: http://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/ accessed on Sept 19, 20152 How much coal is used to generate a kilowatthour of electricity: http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=667&t=2 accessed on Sept 19, 20153 Harvard Business Review: Global Branding http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/4377.html accessed on Sept 19, 20154 Case study5 Greenpeace website – ‘Unfriend Coal’ page: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/climate-change/cool-it/ITs-carbon-footprint/Facebook/ accessed on Sept 19, 20156 Greenpeace website – Barry Schnitt’s response: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/Cool-IT/executive-director-of-greenpeace-to-ceo-of-fa/blog/26324/ accessed on Sept 19, 20157,8,9 Case-study

Image Links Cover page image: http://previews.123rf.com/images/cienpies/cienpies1308/cienpies130801105/21599989-Eco-global-green-planet-earth-trees-continents-wind-turbines-and-green-sun-illustration-Vector-layer-Stock-Vector.jpg Tiny leaves in circle 1: http://www.satel-sa.com/images/icono-medio-ambiente.png Facebook Like Logo: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-07BJoeqMBvw/VL_u_CQ7JlI/AAAAAAAAXsw/xKIlEcUkTkY/s1600/facebook%2Blike%2Blogo.png Facebook logo: http://www.mcgill.ca/edu-ecp/files/edu-ecp/styles/wysiwyg_medium/public/facebook.png?itok=Ho9eyiyH Users clipart: http://www.clker.com/cliparts/s/M/N/e/K/P/three-users-icon-th.png Tiny leaves in circle 2: http://ondamedia.com/personaltransporter/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/iconos-17.png Facebook unlike logo: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qTZd5kDi-QY/Uw-B6MTrP4I/AAAAAAAAMt4/wtNO4wz4hys/s1600/facebook-logo-png-transparent-background-i3.png Green leaf 1: http://www.i2clipart.com/cliparts/1/3/c/5/clipart-leaf-256x256-13c5.png Light green FB logo: http://www.uccs.edu/Images/gaf/facebook_green_icon.png Globe : http://pre12.deviantart.net/933c/th/pre/i/2015/048/f/a/globe_clipart_by_marinka7-d8idv04.pngDark green FB logo: http://www.bluderstreeservice.com/0.buttons/green_facebook_logo2.png Green leaf 2: http://www.cliparthut.com/clip-arts/852/leaf-clip-art-852823.png Windmill image: http://sweetclipart.com/multisite/sweetclipart/files/windmills_on_hill.png Camera: http://www.clipartbest.com/cliparts/9i4/o4X/9i4o4XE5T.pngCoal image: http://www.clker.com/cliparts/i/3/d/R/8/H/coal-train-wagon-hi.pngSingle user icon: http://cliparts.co/cliparts/8iA/bAk/8iAbAkp8T.png

Thank You !