Amazon's Climate Pledges Under Fire as Company Increases Emissions

Amazon's commitment to going carbon neutral by 2040 seems to be at odds with its recent actions. In 2020, Bezos announced that Amazon would name a new hockey rink in Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, which would be the first net zero carbon certified arena in the world.

However, it appears that this was more of a PR stunt than a genuine attempt to reduce emissions. The arena's features, such as serving vegan sashimi and using reclaimed rainwater in the ice system, seem gimmicky rather than substantial efforts towards sustainability.

In fact, Amazon has been adding 19th-century-style smoking chimneys to its facilities to churn out more Compute, the 21st-century equivalent of wool or steel. This is a far cry from the company's climate pledges and raises questions about its commitment to reducing emissions.

Amazon's planned facility in Pecos, Texas would be the single largest source of climate pollution in the US, with 35 giant natural gas turbines burning through vast quantities of fracked gas.

The company's chief sustainability officer, Kara Hurst, acknowledged that Amazon needs to 'do better' on communicating its environmental impact, but it seems that this is not a priority for the company.