Report: Apple is at the bottom of the environmental barrel

Apple may be the darling of the hipper-than-thou crowd, but when it comes to climate change, it has one of the worse environmental records of any tech company, according to a new survey. Microsoft beats it by a considerable margin, and IBM is best of all the techs.

Climate Counts, a non-profit group financed by the yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm, just released a report detailing how 60 top corporations rank according to their commitment to stopping climate change. It used a scale from 0 to 100 and 22 criteria to rank companies. According to the group, it determined if the companies

• Measured their climate "footprint"
• Reduced their impact on global warming
• Supported (or suggest intent to block) progressive climate legislation
• Publicly disclosed their climate actions clearly and comprehensively

Apple scored dismally on all counts, racking up a lowly score of 11 out of 100. The industry that Climate Counts says it is in, Electronics, had an average rating of 56. IBM topped the list, with a 77. Apple was the lowest overall in the Electronics category.

The Apple scorecard was not pretty. It rolled up zeroes in countless categories, for acts such as not setting goals for reducing emissions and not taking steps towards reducing emissions.

Microsoft scored well above Apple, with 38 points. The group noted:

Microsoft improved the scope of its greenhouse gas emissions assessments, which accounted for their increase in score this year.

Microsoft, Google, and several others were in the Internet/Software category. Google topped it with 55 points. The group reported:

The company has moved to measure its emissions and develop significant reduction goals. Their investment in renewable energy technology and in ambitious research and development on energy efficiency helped boost the company’s score in 2008.

Amazon and eBay scored dismally, a lowly 5 out of 100, while Yahoo came in at 37.

For a summary, click here. For full results, click here.

What do the results of Microsoft and Apple mean? It's one more example of Apple not living up to its lofty image, while Microsoft exceeds the image it's been branded with.

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