Hill Heat: Under Susan Molinari, Google Has Veered Away From Green PolicyScience Policy Legislation Actiontag:www.hillheat.com,2005:TypoTypo2014-11-10T18:35:12-05:00Brad Johnsonurn:uuid:897e5943-d07e-45ba-b8d2-2cc7993803232013-11-20T05:55:00-05:002014-11-10T18:35:12-05:00Under Susan Molinari, Google Has Veered Away From Green Policy<div style='float:right;font-size:x-small;margin-left:10px;width:200px'><img src='/files/Susan_Molinari_GOOGLE_ELLE_Center_American_vT_JubZ9Z5_x.jpg' width=200 alt="Susan Molinari" /><br />Susan Molinari at a Google/Elle/Center for American Progress event January 19, 2013</div>A review of the "don't be evil" Internet giant Google's stance toward climate change and green policy finds a significant shift to the right in recent years, following the Tea Party surge election and the collapse of mandatory climate legislation in 2010.
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Since 2012, Google's policy division has been run by former Republican representative Susan Molinari, a <a href='http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving../rev_summary.php?id=18659'>long-time corporate lobbyist</a>. Molinari, whose <a href='http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=molinari%2C+susan&state=&zip=&employ=&cand=&c2014=Y&c2012=Y&c2010=Y&sort=N&capcode=5phvq&submit=Submit+your+Donor+Query'>personal contributions</a> are exclusively to Republicans, has led the Google Washington DC office to host fundraisers <a href='http://politicalpartytime.org/search/venue_name/Google%20Washington/'>exclusively for Republican senators</a>, including Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), according to the Sunlight Foundation's Political Party Time database. Under Molinari's direction, Google also <a href='http://www.google.com/publicpolicy/transparency.html'>supports</a> climate-denial shops such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, and the American Conservative Union.
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Google's fundraiser for Sen. Inhofe in July sparked controversy and <a href='http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/07/11/2283031/over-10000-google-users-protest-companys-inhofe-fundraiser/'>protest</a>, and the membership in ALEC raised a new round of <a href='http://www.nextiphonenews.com/2013/11/google-inc-goog-facebook-inc-fb-and-not-so-green-contacts/'>criticism</a> from <a href='http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/25275'>industry press</a> and <a href='https://plus.google.com/u/1/116318053701770276529/about'>Google users</a>.
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Google's political support for opponents of its green agenda appears to be part of a retreat from its serious climate-policy agenda of a few years ago.
<div style='float:right;font-size:x-small;margin-left:10px;width:200px'><img src='/files/Susan_Molinari_GOOGLE_ELLE_Center_American_vT_JubZ9Z5_x.jpg' width=200 alt="Susan Molinari" /><br />Susan Molinari at a Google/Elle/Center for American Progress event January 19, 2013</div>A review of the "don't be evil" Internet giant Google's stance toward climate change and green policy finds a significant shift to the right in recent years, following the Tea Party surge election and the collapse of mandatory climate legislation in 2010.
<p>
Since 2012, Google's policy division has been run by former Republican representative Susan Molinari, a <a href='http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving../rev_summary.php?id=18659'>long-time corporate lobbyist</a>. Molinari, whose <a href='http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=molinari%2C+susan&state=&zip=&employ=&cand=&c2014=Y&c2012=Y&c2010=Y&sort=N&capcode=5phvq&submit=Submit+your+Donor+Query'>personal contributions</a> are exclusively to Republicans, has led the Google Washington DC office to host fundraisers <a href='http://politicalpartytime.org/search/venue_name/Google%20Washington/'>exclusively for Republican senators</a>, including Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), according to the Sunlight Foundation's Political Party Time database. Under Molinari's direction, Google also <a href='http://www.google.com/publicpolicy/transparency.html'>supports</a> climate-denial shops such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, and the American Conservative Union.
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Google's fundraiser for Sen. Inhofe in July sparked controversy and <a href='http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/07/11/2283031/over-10000-google-users-protest-companys-inhofe-fundraiser/'>protest</a>, and the membership in ALEC raised a new round of <a href='http://www.nextiphonenews.com/2013/11/google-inc-goog-facebook-inc-fb-and-not-so-green-contacts/'>criticism</a> from <a href='http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/25275'>industry press</a> and <a href='https://plus.google.com/u/1/116318053701770276529/about'>Google users</a>.
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Google's political support for opponents of its green agenda appears to be part of a retreat from its serious climate-policy agenda of a few years ago.
In 2007, renewable energy politico <a href='http://www.law.stanford.edu/profile/dan-reicher'>Dan Reicher</a> joined Google as Director, Climate Change and Energy Initiatives for Google.org, the company's charitable arm.
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Starting that year, Google publicly committed to <a href='http://web.archive.org/web/20070629202429/http://www.google.com/corporate/green/energy/index.html'>carbon neutrality</a> because "Solving climate change won’t be simple, and there won’t be a single solution that addresses the entire problem at once. We all need to act together to meet the challenge – from the largest corporations and governments to individual households."
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Google pledged then:
<blockquote>Finally, we will campaign for public policies designed to cut emissions to the levels required to keep our climate system stable. We support energy efficiency standards that accelerate the deployment of energy-efficient technologies throughout the world, specific targets to increase renewable energy supplies on the grid, public support for research and development aimed at developing and commercializing low-carbon technologies, and mandatory emissions limits that put a price on carbon.</blockquote>
Google's <a href='http://web.archive.org/web/20070630004908/http://www.google.com/corporate/green/energy/policy.html'>climate policy platform</a> initially included efficiency standards, a federal renewable portfolio standard, public funding for clean-energy research and development, and a price on greenhouse pollution.
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"Meeting our goal will also require <a href='http://web.archive.org/web/20070626070232/http://www.google.com/corporate/green/energy/footprint1.html#renewables'>improved regulatory frameworks</a> at the regional and national level," Google continued. "We will advocate for specific changes including a national renewable portfolio standard, increased research and development support, and regional and federal incentives for the deployment of renewable electricity."
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The call for a carbon price was <a href='http://web.archive.org/web/20071201040625/http://www.google.com/corporate/green/energy/policy.html'>eliminated</a> from Google's site at the end of 2007. The individual policy provisions were replaced with the <a href='http://web.archive.org/web/20090220160427/http://knol.google.com/k/-/-/15x31uzlqeo5n/1#'>Google Clean Energy 2030 plan</a> in November 2008. This effort was led by Google.org's Climate and Energy Technology Manager, Dr. <a href='http://eetd.lbl.gov/people/jeffery-greenblatt'>Jeffery Greenblatt</a>, who left Google in 2009 to join the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
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Reicher, who <a href='http://www.hillheat.com/events/2009/10/28/legislative-hearing-on-s-1733-clean-energy-jobs-and-american-power-act-clean-energy-jobs'>testified</a> <a href='http://www.hillheat.com/events/2009/04/28/legislation-to-improve-the-availability-of-financing-for-deployment-of-clean-energy-and-energy-efficiency-technologies'>repeatedly</a> before Congress in favor of climate and clean-energy legislation on Google's behalf in 2009, <a href='http://gigaom.com/2010/11/30/googles-dir-climate-change-to-lead-new-stanford-energy-school/'>left Google</a> at the end of 2010, to join the Stanford Center for Energy Policy and Finance.
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In 2011, Google.org published "<a href='http://www.google.org/energyinnovation/The_Impact_of_Clean_Energy_Innovation.pdf'>The Impact of Clean Energy Innovation</a>," which compared policy scenarios including a suite of renewable-energy policies and a $30/ton carbon tax. This <a href='http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/examining-impact-of-clean-energy.html'>research</a> was led by Google Green Energy Czar Bill Weihl, who was <a href='http://greenmonk.net/2011/12/19/facebook-hires-googles-former-green-energy-czar-bill-weihl-and-increases-its-commitment-to-renewables/'>hired by Facebook</a> at the end of that year.
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Also in 2011, Google's Green site was <a href='http://web.archive.org/web/20110613003211/http://www.google.com/green/'>revamped</a>, eliminating policy mentions but including a <a href='http://web.archive.org/web/20111201133028/http://www.google.com/green/innovations/renewables.html'>100% renewable energy goal</a> for the company's operations.
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Then Molinari joined Google in 2012.