Apple Quitting Green Registry Leads to Purchasing Fallout

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Bloomberg:

San Francisco plans to suspend purchases of Apple Inc. (AAPL) computers after the company stopped participating in an environmental certification program used by governments and universities to make purchasing decisions.

San Francisco’s 50 departments and 28,000 employees will no longer be able to use city funds to buy Apple desktops, laptops or monitors because the Cupertino, California-based company dropped out of a rating system called EPEAT to track the environmental impact of computers, Jon Walton, the city’s chief information officer, said yesterday in an interview. The city’s policy doesn’t apply to iPhones and iPads, he said.

Apple’s plan to drop participation in the program may have broad consequences because many governments and universities are required to use EPEAT’s registry when making purchasing decisions. The University of California, the largest U.S. public higher-education system, is considering whether to suspend Apple computer purchases because its bylaws require computers to meet the standards, said Bill Allison, head of campus technology services at the Berkeley campus.

“When something like this happens, it’s a significant change in the landscape,” Allison said. The school needs two weeks to work with Apple and administrators in the university system to consider how to move forward, he said. “We’re reviewing the impact of this.”

San Francisco’s decision was first reported by the Wall Street Journal’s CIO Journal.

‘Comprehensive Approach’

Apple defended its decision to drop out of EPEAT, which it helped create several years ago. The company said it meets strict environmental standards, including the government’s Energy Star program, that exceed EPEAT.

“Apple takes a comprehensive approach to measuring our environmental impact, and all of our products meet the strictest energy-efficiency standards backed by the U.S. government,” said Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Apple. “We also lead the industry by reporting each product’s greenhouse gas emissions on our website, and Apple products are superior in other important environmental areas not measured by EPEAT, such as removal of toxic materials.”

Allison, of the University of California, said Apple’s move may lead to an updating of the environmental standard, which is several years old. Apple told him that EPEAT is outdated and has become less effective as manufacturing standards and product design have changed, he said.

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Apple isn't green enough for San Fran Whacko...