On September 22, 2014, an interviewer asked Google Chairman Eric Schmidt why Google was donating money to ALEC, a climate-denying company. Schmidt responded by saying, “I think the consensus within the company was that that was sort of a mistake. And so we’re trying to not do that in the future.” He then affirmed Google’s position on the issue, “And the facts of climate change are not in question anymore. Everyone understands climate change is occurring. And the people who oppose it are really hurting our children and our grandchildren and making the world a much worse place. And so we should not be aligned with such people.”

Today, Google continues to donate money to hundreds of organizations, some of which are known to have lobbied against climate change activism.

Google’s response to the allegations

The tech giant defended its contributions by saying that its collaboration with companies such as CEI and SPN does not mean that Google supports their agendas. Instead, the reason the collaborations are being made is because of Google’s support of technological innovations. These actions and the chairman’s words from five years ago clearly do not match up.

The aforementioned companies that Google collaborates with are notorious for lobbying against climate legislation. CEI was one of the main players in convincing President Trump to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Moreover, SPN recently created the “climate pledge” where they claimed that the world’s climate is actually getting better. These are just some of the companies that Google donates to.

Public opinion on the situation

Critics and environmental activists believe that it is contradictory for a company that openly supports action on global climate change to be donating money to these companies. Google has operated on 100% renewable energy for two years and had urged the White House to stay in the Paris Climate Agreement. It is for this reason that some believe that Google is only portraying an image of climate action. On the other hand, some believe that Google is donating to these companies to win them over and stop government regulation on technology.

Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic senator who is a major proponent to climate action, slammed Google. “It ought to be disqualifying to support what is primarily a phony climate-denying front group,” Whitehouse states. He then continues to say that companies should stop collaborating with those who deny climate change.

It is clear that most environmental activists and individuals see Google’s contradictions in a bad light. Actions that go against words will often lead to obscurity, and Google has made a purposeful commitment to being transparent with the public. Moreover, many believe that Google’s strides in climate action have been lessened by the companies collaborating with a large list of climate-denying organizations. Moving forward, Google might have to stop these donations to regain the trust and support of environmental activists.