Climate Advocate Al Gore and CEO Tim Cook Must Be Ousted From Apple Board: NLPC

The National Legal and Policy Center, a non-profit that monitors the ethics of public officials and files with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has filed two opposition filings against the position taken by Apple CEO Tim Cook Climate advocate Al Gore Apple’s board

According to the SEC filing, voting against Al Gore’s twenty first term on his board of directors was required. It pointed out that he had built a company. “personal brand” After losing his presidential bid against George W. Bush 2000, he now speaks out on climate change. “Mr. Gore has little technology, financial, or leadership success. His board membership relies heavily on his climate change expertise. However, Mr. Gore’s climate predictions have been mostly false; he lives a hypocritical carbon-intensive lifestyle; and his climate activism has been a tool for his personal enrichment, much of which depends on industries whose existence relies on government tax credits and subsidies,” The File stated.

“In addition, he remains vocal and active on progressive political issues, putting Apple’s apolitical reputation at risk. For those reasons, shareholders should vote against his continuation as a director on Apple’s board.”

According to Apple’s proxy statement 2023, “corporate governance” Gore has stated that he is a director. According to the filing, Gore had been a director prior to joining Apple. “never served on a corporate board.”

Every other member of the board is either a board member at another Fortune 500 company or has had experience as an executive leader in a large corporation.

“Innovation and technology” Another skill that Gore has listed in the proxy statement is: Gore is however “no prior business or technology experience.”

In the filing, the Harvard Business Review surveyed more than 5,000 board members to determine the three most important forms of expertise that a new board member should have. Gore’s Climate Change “primary area of expertise,” The survey did not include this item.

“Apple’s shareholders should consider the opportunity cost of allocating a crucial board seat solely based on climate expertise, considering climate change mitigation is wholly unrelated to Apple’s core business,” The filing stated.

Gore was also charged in the SEC filing for using his own computer. “public perception as a climate expert as a tool for personal enrichment.” Generation IM is an investment management company founded by Al Gore. It manages approximately $36 billion. Its top three positions include Charles Schwab and Amazon. None of these are related to renewable energy.

The filing cited a Bloomberg analysis that stated that Generation IM’s largest fund, which has $26.4 billion in assets and had seen their greenhouse gases rise in recent times.

Proposal Against Tim Cook

The SEC File NLPC called for the vote against Tim Cook’s twelfth year on the board. “numerous times to live up to what he says are Apple’s ethical standards” Since 2011, when he assumed the role of CEO, he has been a consistent contributor to the company’s success. Additionally, he has made several contributions to the organization. “multiple strategic mistakes” Apple was ultimately hit with a loss of billions of dollar.

“These include labor rights failures, privacy violations, and overreliance on China. But he is shielded from accountability, in part because of his position on Apple’s board. He should be removed as a director so the proper chain of command can be restored.”

Apple 2023 proxy statements lists “global operations” “risk management” Cook has two director skills.

“Yet Mr. Cook has overseen poor risk management in Apple’s supply-chain policies, particularly regarding its over-reliance on Chinese suppliers, and the company’s close relations with China’s authoritarian regime—decisions that cost Apple between $4 billion and $8 billion under the communist nation’s zero-COVID lockdowns,” The filing states.

According to the filing, seven suppliers to Apple were implicated in forced labor in China’s Xinjiang Region. Beijing is said to be having pushed hundreds of thousand of Uyghurs to such conditions. Apple “lobbied against” The U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act took a strong stance against forced labor in Xinjiang.

Apple stated that it had restricted AirDrop’s use in areas where there were protests against the Chinese regime’s COVID-19 policies in Nov 2022 in order to stop protestors communicating.

The Epoch Times reached out to Apple for comments.

Clyde Prestowitz (president of the Washington-based Economic Strategy Institute) had asked Cook to register as an agent foreigner in April 2022 during testimony before the U.S. China Economic and Security Commission. This was due to his close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

“What we have to understand is that our corporations, our major business leaders, the Ray Dalios of the world, and the Tim Cooks of the world, they are powerful here in Washington. You know the money they spend, the entreat they have here in Washington,” Prestowitz . “In Beijing, they’re on their knees. They kowtow.”

It was also revealed that Cook had filed the paperwork. “publicly advocates” for consumer protection, he “privately enables” Google will collect data on more than 2 billion Apple devices around the world.

“The company receives roughly one-fifth of its services revenue from the Google partnership alone. And Google’s antitrust scrutiny has brought Apple into the U.S. Justice Department’s crosshairs, posing a risk to Apple’s services revenue and reputation. Regardless, Mr. Cook has publicly defended this partnership,” It was.