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Activist encourages IT firms to cut emissions
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Gary Cook, a Greenpeace International activist
By Kim Se-jeong
By Kim Se-jeong
Energy companies have been the target globally of campaigns to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Gary Cook, a Greenpeace International activist, 47, has a different target: IT companies.
In the United States and Europe, Cook has been pushing IT companies like Facebook, Apple and Google to use renewable energy for their data centers.
After five years of successful campaigns, he is moving his target to IT companies in Asia.
He was in Korea in June for the campaign. He returned home with a commitment from Naver, Korea’s most-visited web portal, to use renewable energy for its data center in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. Naver became Asia’s first IT company to make such a commitment.
This week, he was back in Korea to launch the second phase of the campaign. He made a policy proposal to the Korean government, asking it to give IT companies more room to play when it comes to supplying power for the data centers.
In the U.S., Facebook made the commitment in 2011 and pushed the government of North Carolina to change the law so it could develop renewable energy of its own. Google also urged the government of Iowa to cancel projects for one nuclear and one natural gas power plant. Instead, Iowa decided to generate electricity from wind to host Google’s data center.
Cook said the importance of IT companies’ role in greenhouse gas emissions reduction is growing.
“Worldwide, IT is growing very quickly, and it is energy intensive,” Cook said during an interview with The Korea Times, Wednesday.
Encouraging Korea’s IT companies to go green, Cook said it is not just about morality. “It makes a lot of economic sense.”
By choosing renewable energy, Cook said companies can save a lot of money in the long run. Fossil fuel-generated power is losing ground, while renewable energy sources gain traction and are getting cheaper.
Also, IT companies’ cooperation with small and medium energy companies can help create more jobs, he said.
Greenpeace Korea submitted a policy proposal to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, asking it to ease regulations so IT companies can sign independent energy contracts with small companies specializing in renewable energy. Naver now relies on the Korea Electronic Power Corporation grid.
Cook has been with Greenpeace for over six years. He also worked at the U.S. Climate Action Network and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability.