Apple Makes New Commitment To Fight Climate Change, But Has A Long Way To Go

Apple on Monday released its 2015 Environmental Responsibility Report, underscoring its commitment to lessening the environmental impact of its products and operations. "We don’t want to debate climate change. We want to stop it," the company stated in the report.

But Apple still has a long way to go when it comes to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, cutting down on paper use and eliminating the amount of toxic substances in its devices.

The report said Apple's overall carbon footprint increased between 2013 and 2014, in part because the company is selling more products. It also noted that Apple is working to make products less carbon-intensive to manufacture and use.

The report went on to say that renewable resources power 100 percent of Apple's data centers, corporate offices and retail stores in the United States, as well as 87 percent of its global facilities. In addition, all of its U.S. data centers have been powered with 100 percent renewable energy since 2012.

Yet the report says that the energy used by Apple facilities in the 2014 fiscal year represented only 1 percent of the company's carbon footprint. By contrast, manufacturing accounted for a whopping 73 percent of the company’s 34.2 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

While the new report doesn't address the volume of paper products used for packaging, it does says that during the 2014 fiscal year, "over 80 percent of the paper and corrugated cardboard used in our iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, and Apple TV packaging came from certified sustainably managed forests, controlled wood sources, or recycled materials."

Last week, Apple announced it was purchasing 36,000 acres of forest -- 3,600 in North Carolina and 32,400 in Maine -- to supply paper for its packaging.

The new report also addresses toxic substances in electronics and Apple's efforts to reduce or eliminate these materials for the sake of the environment and human health. "Our goal is to make not just the best products in the world, but the best products for the world," the company wrote.

A 2014 BBC investigation showed allegedly poor working conditions and exhausted employees in undercover footage from a Chinese factory producing Apple products. Apple's previous reports on its suppliers show that "30 percent [of them] don't comply with the company's own safety standards and 18 percent fail to comply with standards on hazardous chemical exposure," according to Wired.

Apple's environmental efforts are led by Lisa Jackson, who joined the company in May 2013 after serving as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2009 to 2013. Her voice can be heard in the "Better Starts Here" video Apple released alongside the report. The ad touts plans to build a 40-megawatt solar farm in China to offset the electricity used by its offices and stores in that country.

"We're directing our innovation into conservation, to get to net zero," Jackson says in the video. “We are learning more and more about new places where we can be better, with renewable energy, hydropower and forest preservation. New ways in which we can leave the world better than we found it."

At last year's annual shareholder meeting Apple CEO Tim Cook told members of a think tank skeptical of manmade climate change that they should ditch Apple stock if they didn't agree with the company's environmental efforts.

Both Google and Microsoft also have made commitments to improving their sustainability and offsetting their operations with renewable energy.

Apple declined to comment for this story.

Why 'Sweatworking' Is The New Lunch Meeting

(Reuters) - Sweatworking, the growing practice of meeting clients for a walk, a run or a fitness class, is elbowing networking out of bars and restaurants and into boutique fitness studios.

A yoga, barre or spin class has become the new nine holes of golf, fitness experts said, chased by a post-workout smoothie rather than a three-martini lunch.

“Sweatworking was born out of a desire to connect with clients on a deeper level that wasn’t so sales-y,” said Sarah Siciliano, 32, an advertising executive who has been entertaining clients with workouts. “A lot of sales jobs revolve around drinking.”

Siciliano, who is based in New York City, considers taking her mostly female clients, who range in age from 22 to 52, to yoga, spinning, bootcamp and dance studios a great tool to develop relationships.

“People like to move along with the trends,” said Siciliano, who organizes her workout events.

“I do all the leg work but I exercise everyday anyway so for me it’s a win-win,” she said. “If you can knock out a client event and your workout at the same time, why not?”

Sweatworking began in the advertising world, but has spread to more traditionally conservative professions such as law and banking, according to Alexia Brue, co-founder of the wellness media company Well+Good.

“Now a lot of client entertaining in many industries has moved into boutique studios,” she said, “especially to those with workouts that aren’t super awkward, or super-sweaty to do with a client.”

Gabby Etrog Cohen, vice president of public relations and brand strategy at SoulCycle, a national chain of 39 indoor cycling studios, said in four years sweatworking has become a regular part of her business.

“We get a mixed bag, a lot of people in financing and advertising,” said Cohen. “We have groups that come in every week. One group comes every Thursday.”

Part of the appeal, she speculates, resides in the dim studio lights.

“There’s something about not wanting to sweat in front of clients,” she said. “We ride in the dark so there’s a sense of anonymity.”

For 45 minutes and $35 per class, the studio provides an alternative to the traditional four-hour round of golf.

Cohen said the rise of sweatworking marks the distance traveled from the chain-smoking, inebriated lifestyle of the 1960’s portrayed in the hit AMC series “Mad Men.”

“We’ve taken ‘Mad Men’ and turned it on its head,” she said.

(This version of the story corrects HBO to AMC in the second-to-last paragraph)

This Could Cripple The Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger

Customers and labor unions aren’t the only ones feeling uneasy about the looming prospect of a giant cable conglomerate.

Attorneys at the Justice Department’s antitrust division are making moves that may halt a merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, Bloomberg reported on Friday. The attorneys could submit their recommendation as early as next week.

The $45 billion merger, first announced last February, would unite the two largest cable operators in the country. The move triggered concern among regulators about how customers would be affected, and whether the combined force would have a heavier hand in cable network negotiations.

The new company would have 30 million subscribers.

Comcast and Time Warner Cable currently operate in separate markets: Comcast’s 22 million customers are centered around Chicago, Boston, Washington and Philadelphia, while those of Time Warner Cable, which number around 11 million, are located in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Milwaukee.

The antitrust lawyers’ submission will be reviewed by Renata Hesse, a deputy assistant attorney general for antitrust, who along with other officials may elect to file a federal lawsuit to stop the merger, according to Bloomberg.

Officials at the Justice Department and the FCC are not negotiating with Comcast about proposed solutions to the merger, according to Bloomberg.

"We’ve had no indication from the DOJ that this is true," Bobby Amirshahi, a spokesman for Time Warner Cable, told The Huffington Post of Bloomberg's report. "We have been working productively with both DOJ and FCC and believe that there is no basis for the DOJ to block the deal."

Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said in a statement that there is "no basis for a lawsuit to block the transaction."

“The Comcast-Time Warner Cable transaction will result in significant consumer benefits - faster broadband speeds, access to a superior video experience, and more competition in business services resulting in billions of dollars of cost savings," Fitzmaurice said. "These benefits have been essentially unchallenged in the record - and all can be achieved without any reduction of competition."

Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr declined to comment.

Comcast delayed the merger closing date to mid-2015 after the Federal Communications Commission, which will review the proposed merger with the antitrust division, requested additional information about the confidentiality of contracts between Comcast and other subscription TV providers. The initial date had been early 2015.

This isn’t the first time Comcast has sought to expand its cable and Internet reach. The company fully acquired NBCUniversal in 2013.

In December, several companies, advocacy groups and labor unions formed the Stop Mega Comcast Coalition in an attempt to pressure officials to block the merger. The group, which counts Dish Network, the Writers Guild of America, West and the Sports Fan Coalition among its members, said the merger may result in Comcast increasing broadband prices and reducing programming options.

6 Of The Fastest-Growing Jobs In America Pay Low Wages

Retailers and policymakers are finally hearing workers’ call for wage hikes, but it may be a little too late.

Low-wage industries in the United States are growing rapidly, but wages aren't. A new report from the National Employment Law Project, a wage advocacy group, found that six of the occupations that are expected to grow the fastest in the coming years are also jobs that pay a median wage of under $15 per hour -- which is barely enough to make ends meet.

These high-growth fields, according to the NELP report, include retail sales employees, food and service workers, nursing assistants, laborers and freight movers, personal care aids, janitors and cleaners (excluding housekeepers and maids).

“These are jobs that aren’t going anywhere,” said Irene Tung, one of the report’s co-authors along with Paul Sonn and Yannet Lathrop. “You can’t outsource fast food in China. You have to grapple with that. This is where we have to lift wages if we want to begin to rebuild the disappearing middle class in the country.”

Around 46 percent of workers earning less than $15 an hour are over 35 years old, the NELP's report found. “There’s a common perception that these occupations are for teenagers,” Tung told The Huffington Post. “But there are a lot of people spending decades in these jobs and supporting families. It calls into question the kind of economy we want.”

As the baby-boom generation ages, one of the biggest-growing sectors is personal care for the elderly. Wages there are stagnant and turnover is high. “It’s hard to retain good personal care aides because the wages are so low,” Tung said.

The report also notes that the percentages of women and African-Americans making less than $15 per hour are disproportionately large. Female workers make up 48 percent of the total U.S. workforce but represent 54 percent of those making under $15 an hour, per the NELP. African-Americans, who comprise 12 percent of the total workforce, represent 15 percent of those making less than $15.

Workers have become increasingly vocal in their fight for better wages, and they're gradually effecting change. McDonald’s bumped up hourly wages to $9.90 earlier this month, though this applied only to a fraction of employees.

Many workers called the raise insufficient and are continuing to call on McDonald's and other corporate giants to hike wages. On Wednesday, a strike organized by the group Fight for $15, which advocates for a minimum hourly wage of $15 for fast-food employees, began in cities across the U.S and expanded to include demonstrations for other low-earning workers.

In February, retail giant Walmart increased wages to $9 for its lowest-paid workers. Rivals such as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Target soon followed suit. But many of these low-income workers rely on government assistance programs, and $9 an hour still forces them to remain tied to Medicaid and food stamps, according to a study by the advocacy group Americans for Tax Fairness.

“Workers have been organizing, and they’ve been able to elevate the conversation about wages in this country,” Tung said. “But it’s still a drop in the bucket. Nine dollars an hour is less than $25,000 a year for full-time workers, and that’s nowhere near enough for them to survive.”

The public is responding in turn and putting pressure on lawmakers. Seattle is currently transitioning to a $15 minimum wage, a year after the city first announced its commitment to a living wage for workers. Voters in San Francisco, as well as Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota, approved wage increases last year.

Protesters Take Part In Nationwide Rally For $15 Minimum Wage

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered across the country on Wednesday to speak out against low wages.

The demonstrations are led by the group Fight for $15, which seeks a minimum hourly wage of $15 for fast-food employees. Though McDonald's raised hourly wages to $9.90 for a fraction of its workforce earlier this month, workers say this is hardly enough and are demanding a basic living wage.

The movement has also grown to include protests for higher pay for adjunct professors, airport workers and employees at large retailers. Marches began Tuesday in Boston and Detroit, and soon expanded to more than 200 cities and college campuses on Wednesday.

Fast-food protests in over 100 cities last September resulted in dozens of arrests. This time, however, organizers are not looking to get arrested in order to make a statement.

"It's something different," says Kendall Fells, organizing director of Fight for $15, told USA Today. "This is much more of an economic and racial justice movement than the fast-food workers strikes of the past two years."

The Fight for $15 campaign first began in 2012 and is funded by the Service Employees International Union.

Protester rally outside a Burger King restaurant in College Park, Georgia, on Wednesday morning.

Protesters lead a demonstration in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Striking workers outside Madison Burger King to #FightFor15 @WiscJobsNow pic.twitter.com/7pM1AwGST6

— Will Kramer (@wnkramer) April 15, 2015

Taking over an intersection in NYC right now! #FightFor15 pic.twitter.com/tlqk13Wxd2

— Fast Food Forward (@FastFoodForward) April 15, 2015

Photos of Boston #FightFor15 march. http://t.co/D5KcP05mle @WageAction pic.twitter.com/uTUESwJu7z

— BNN News (@news_bnn) April 15, 2015

#FightFor15 protest inside @McDonalds in San Francisco @Demotix http://t.co/0ZB5vooOXL #RaiseTheWage #FastFoodGlobal #sfbos #McDonalds

— Steve Rhodes (@tigerbeat) April 15, 2015

#Miami fast-food workers strike today to demand $15 per hour wages. http://t.co/0NKQqx79Af #FightFor15 pic.twitter.com/P1KyiUjdsU

— Miami New Times (@MiamiNewTimes) April 15, 2015

BREAKING: Southside Chicago McDonalds CLOSED because of workers ON STRIKE! #FightFor15 pic.twitter.com/g1PpxoVRWB

— Fight For 15 Chicago (@chifightfor15) April 15, 2015

The movement has also gained international support, with workers leading protests in Auckland, New Zealand, and Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Fastfoodworkers' strike in Amsterdam. @YoungUnitedNL #halfloon #FNV #FightFor15 #FastFoodGlobal pic.twitter.com/PbbAY0sG7m

— Ron Meyer (@MeyerRon) April 15, 2015

CEO Slashes $1 Million Salary To Give Lowest-Paid Workers A Raise

Three weeks ago, Dan Price took a $930,000 pay cut.

Growing income inequality had been on his mind for months. But as he went for a hike with a friend one afternoon and listened to her describe her struggle with rising rent prices, he realized he had to do something for his own employees.

So Price, the founder and CEO of Gravity Payments in Seattle, decided to raise the minimum salary at his 120-person payment processing company to $70,000. At a company where the average pay was $48,000 per year, the move -- which was first reported by The New York Times on Monday -- affected 70 workers, 30 of whom saw their salaries double.

Most of the money for these raises will come from cutting Price's salary -- which is now $70,000 per year rather $1 million. The rest will come out of the $2.2 million the company expects to earn in profit this year.

“There’s greater inequality today than there’s been since the Great Recession,” Price told The Huffington Post on Tuesday. “I’d been thinking about this stuff and just thought, ‘It’s time. I can’t go another day without doing something about this.’”

The $70,000 figure is just below the $75,000 salary pegged in a 2010 Princeton University study as an ideal benchmark for achieving happiness. About 28 percent of Americans said they would feel successful earning at most $70,000 per year, according to a 2012 survey from the jobs site CareerBuilder.

The pay cut won’t affect Price's lifestyle much. He has saved a lot of the money he has earned since starting Gravity in 2004. He said he has no plans to replace his 12-year-old Audi, which has clocked more than 140,000 miles. And his new salary will still allow him to pick up the bar tab for his friends once a month, he said.

“There will be sacrifices,” said Price, 30. “But once the company’s profit is back to the $2.2 million level, my pay will go back. So that’s good motivation.”

In the U.S., the average CEO earns more than 350 times what the average worker does. Seattle has become a hotbed in the fight for higher wages as the city phases in a $15 minimum wage, one of the highest in the country. The city is also home to wealthy investor Nick Hanauer, a self-styled champion for higher pay who has warned his fellow billionaires that pitchfork-wielding mobs will follow them to their private jets if income inequality isn’t addressed.

Rather than see this as a charitable offer to his workers, Price sees the pay raises as an investment. In theory, workers motivated by higher salaries will ultimately attract more business and handle clients better.

“This is a capitalist solution to a social problem,” Price said. “I think it pays for itself, I really do.”

Uninsured Rate Gets Lower And Lower, Thanks To Obamacare

WASHINGTON-- The Affordable Care Act was designed to slash the percentage of Americans who lack health insurance, and it's working.

The uninsured rate fell to 11.9 percent during the first quarter of this year, 1 percentage point below the rate at the close of 2014, according to the findings of a Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index poll published Monday. The decline coincides with the start of benefits for new Obamacare enrollees at the beginning of 2015.

The latest uninsured figure from the Gallup survey is the lowest since the polling firm began tracking the number in 2008, and contributes to a remarkable decline of 5.2 percentage points in the share of people without health coverage since the end of 2013, just before the first wave of Obamacare health insurance enrollees joined the ranks of the insured.

Source: Gallup

African-Americans, Hispanics and people with low incomes saw the greatest gains in insurance coverage, Gallup found.

Some of the increase in the proportion of Americans with health coverage likely is related to the improving job market, and the health benefits provided by employers, Gallup notes. But the pollsters conclude that Obamacare is mostly responsible for the current trend because the uninsured rate is lower than it was in early 2008, when the economy was in recession.

About 12 million people are covered by private health insurance obtained via the exchanges, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. A separate analysis published by the department last month estimates that 16 million fewer Americans are uninsured because of the Obamacare coverage expansion, including the exchanges and Medicaid.

Were more states to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, the uninsured rate would fall more sharply, as it did in Indiana earlier this year. Previous surveys showing state-by-state numbers illustrate that Obamacare's effect on the uninsured is diminished by states' refusal to expand Medicaid.

Although Montana appears poised to adopt the Medicaid expansion this month, efforts in states such as Alaska, Missouri, Tennessee and Utah this year have been stymied by Republican opposition. Almost 5.5 million people had enrolled into Medicaid because they qualified under the expansion in 28 states and the District of Columbia, the Department of Health and Human Services reported Friday.

The sharp reduction in the uninsured rate since Obamacare benefits began to take effect last year could soon be undone, however. The Supreme Court is slated to rule in June ona lawsuit, King v. Burwell, that claims the Affordable Care Act's subsidies can only be provided in 13 states and the District of Columbia, which operate their own health insurance exchange marketplaces, not in the federally run exchanges in the rest of the country.

A high court ruling for the plaintiffs would invalidate the subsidies received by more than 85 percent of exchange enrollees and destabilize the insurance markets in states with federal exchanges. The Rand Corp. estimates this would result in 9.6 million people becoming uninsured.