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Jeff Bezos promises Amazon will hit carbon neutrality 10 years early

Erica Pandey, author of @Work

Photo: Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images

Jeff Bezos announced Amazon’s Climate Pledge — to hit the Paris climate accord goal of carbon neutrality in 2040, 10 years early — Thursday in Washington, D.C.

Why it matters: More than 1,000 Amazon employees in Seattle plan to walk out Friday as part of the Global Climate Strike, CNBC reports. And over 8,200 have signed an open letter to Bezos to lower Amazon's carbon footprint.

  • "We've been in the middle of the herd on this issue, and we want to move to the forefront," Bezos said.

As part of Amazon's plan, Bezos commits to...

  • Speaking with CEOs of other major companies to get them to sign the Climate Pledge.
  • Adding 100,000 electric delivery vehicles to Amazon's fleet by 2024. The cars will be built by Rivian, an EV startup in which Amazon has invested.
  • Regularly measuring and reporting Amazon's emissions.
  • Working with Amazon's suppliers and third-party deliverers to get them to cut their carbon emissions.
  • Getting to 100% renewable energy in Amazon's facilities and operations by 2030.

The bottom line: "We're going to take a hard look at our own campaign contributions, and if there are any climate deniers in there, we're going to have very carefully at that," Bezos said.

Go deeper: The climate stakes of speedy delivery

Go deeper

Axios
Updated 20 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

  1. Health: Communities of color are falling behind in America's vaccine effort.
  2. Politics: Hundreds of Biden staffers receive COVID vaccine — Axios-Ipsos poll: Trust in federal COVID-19 response surges.
  3. Business: Bankruptcy filings hit decade-high last year.
  4. World: U.K. surpasses 100,000 COVID-19 deaths — 44% of Israelis have already received at least one vaccine dose.
  5. Sports: Pandemic has cost the NCAA $600 million — CDC looks at lessons learned from NFL's testing and contact tracing.
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Dave Lawler, author of World
34 mins ago - World

Biden holds first phone call with Putin, raises Navalny arrest

Putin takes a call in 2017. Photo: Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty

President Biden on Tuesday held his first call since taking office with Vladimir Putin, pressing the Russian president on the arrest of opposition leader Alexey Navalny and the Russia-linked hack on U.S. government agencies, AP reports.

The state of play: Biden also planned to raise arms control, bounties allegedly placed on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and the war in Ukraine, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who said the call took place while she was delivering a press briefing. Psaki added that a full readout will be provided later Tuesday.

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Russell Contreras
2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Biden signs racial equity executive orders

Joe Biden prays at Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on September 3, 2020, in the aftermath of the police shooting of Jacob Blake. PHOTO: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed executive orders on housing and ending the Justice Department's use of private prisons as part of what the White House is calling his “racial equity agenda.”

The big picture: Biden needs the support of Congress to push through police reform or new voting rights legislation. The executive orders serve as his down payment to immediately address systemic racism while he focuses on the pandemic.

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