Apple is one of the most valuable corporations in the world, and, in recent years, the company has been advancing some progressive policies, amongst them some environmental ones, such as the company’s stated goal to get on 100 per cent renewable energy.
In the words of Tim Cook, the company hopes to "leave the world better than we found it." That makes sense. You don’t get to be a huge company without doing some harm, so investing some of your money in cleaning up after yourself is something of a moral responsibility.
Apple’s policies could be way more progressive, of course, but a lot of people have other things in mind. Apple has lots of investors and, on the whole, they tend to want profits first and foremost.
It should come as no surprise, then, that a shareholder resolution proposed by Justin Danhof from the National Center for Public Policy Research accused Cook and Apple of compromising shareholder interest in favour of specious environmentalism. In short, Danohof isn’t happy about the company’s social agenda.
During the Q&A today, Danhof stood up and asked if the company was advancing environmental policies that weren’t necessarily good for business. Cook wasn’t amused, according to Apple Insider, "we do a lot of things for reasons besides profit motive," he is reported to have said, and he even "recommended that anyone who had a problem with that ‘should get out of the stock.’"