Constantly bashed by liberals for its Fox News Channel and other right-leaning news outlets, you might think News Corporation would be the last major media company to achieve net zero carbon emissions. Instead, it is the first.
CEO Rupert Murdoch sent staffers an email announcing that the company had achieved the goal it set in 2007 to become carbon neutral across its global operations. He recalled that the company began the initiative to embed energy efficiency and environmental sustainability to benefit both the communities where News Corp. operates, but also the company’s bottom line.
“Together, despite some of the toughest markets our industry has ever seen, we have saved millions of dollars by improving the energy efficiency of our day-to-day operations. Our efficiency projects pay for themselves in less than two years, on average, and span from simple solutions like lighting retrofits and automatic PC shut-down to systemic changes like installing telepresence and videoconferencing technology to reduce the need for air travel. The Company’s global data center consolidation strategy alone will save approximately $20M per year and reduce data center emissions by almost 15% when completed later in 2011,” Murdoch told staffers.
The CEO pointed out that the company’s UK businesses now get 100% of their electricity from renewable sources and that Dow Jones is close to completing a 4.1 mega-watt solar power system on its campus in New Jersey (pictured), which at peak will provide 50% of the site’s electricity needs.
News Corp. has also encouraged its partners across its supply chain to go green.
“Fox Entertainment developed robust carbon footprinting standards and tools for film, television, sports, and event production, as well as a sustainable vendor guide. The standards we set helped lead to a new industry-wide consortium and the online, open-source Green Production Guide. Our initiative has even prompted major suppliers, like paper manufacturer Norske Skog, to set their own ambitious environmental targets. We have collaborated with business partners who were already leading the way, including our DVD supply chain initiative with Wal-mart, which pioneered an eco-case that reduced emissions from raw materials alone by 13% and has become the industry standard. Most recently, we became founding members of the UK-India Business Leaders Climate Group,” Murdoch noted.
The CEO urged News Corp. employees to continue applying creativity to sustainability and congratulated them for putting the company on the right path. “We have come a long way and we have much to do together,” he concluded.
RBR-TVBR observation: Should we now expect Al Gore to show up to present Rupert Murdoch with some sort of award for his environmental activism? The bottom line is that many energy conservation projects save money and reducing costs translates to higher profits. It is no surprise that Murdoch likes higher profits.
