Facebook addict? Yeah, me too. Who isn’t these days? However, Facebook has been getting some negative press in the news recently. Greenpeace has ripped Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg apart for the choice of using coal powered electricity for its new Oregon data center. The company had the option of using sustainable wind power, but opted out. The provider, Pacific Power, is the biggest problem for the environmental advocacy group. According to Greenpeace, 83 percent of the utility’s generation capabilities come from coal, geothermal, and natural gas resources. Facebook said recently that it was actually 58 percent. In either case, that is still a large percentage. What are we as Facebook users supposed to do?
As many have probably already seen there is a movement through Facebook in which its users are fighting back by demanding cleaner energy. On the Ithaca College campus, many are doing picture messages with thought bubbles telling Facebook to “defriend” coal. What do you think? Should we, as members, be doing more? Should we abandon Facebook altogether?