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Changes to be less preachy, idealistic, remove non-public quote and improve focus #1

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Changes to be less preachy, idealistic, remove non-public quote and improve focus #1

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Proposed update to be less preachy and idealistic
girifox Sep 19, 2019
9f38440
edited for focus on the topic
girifox Sep 19, 2019
427446a
removed non-public statement
girifox Sep 19, 2019
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12 changes: 6 additions & 6 deletions README.md
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Expand Up @@ -6,20 +6,20 @@ Yesterday, a major collaboration between Microsoft, Chevron and Schlumberger, an

The youth have realized that climate change is a threat insurmountable by individual action and have [called](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/23/greta-thunberg-young-people-climate-strikes-20-september) upon the rest of the world to support them. We must use the Global Climate Strike, inspired by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist [Greta Thunberg's school strikes](https://www.fridaysforfuture.org/), as an opportunity to stand together and demand the transformation that our world needs. Doing so is not only taking responsibility for the mistakes that future generations will have to pay for but also the only viable way forward.

Our company cannot morally justify its continued supported of oil and gas exploration, and should have a deliberate plan to withdraw our innovation from that sector.
Our company should reconsider its technology support of oil and gas exploitation, and should have a deliberate plan to withdraw our innovation from that sector, as a matter of principal.
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I agree with this statement, but I think it occurs too early in this document. The original statement starts the process of building a case for this argument. A statement such as this should come later, after the case has been built


Microsoft makes millions of dollars in profits by helping fossil fuel companies extract more oil. In this week's company-wide all-hands, our CEO, Satya Nadella, defended our contracts with Big Oil by suggesting that our technology helps them in their R&D efforts to develop sustainable energy. Yet, this is in clear contradiction to the ambitions of fossil fuel-CEOs and even other Microsoft leaders: Azure Executive Tom Keane, in discussing [Microsoft's multimillion dollar contract with Chevron](https://news.microsoft.com/transform/chevron-fuels-digital-transformation-with-new-microsoft-partnership/), asked "How can we [..] more efficiently do oil exploration? Or more efficiently do sensor management from an offshore oil rig?"
In this week's company-wide all-hands, our CEO, Satya Nadella, defended our contracts with Big Oil by suggesting that our technology helps them in their R&D efforts to develop sustainable energy. Yet, this is in clear contradiction to the ambitions of fossil fuel-CEOs and even other Microsoft leaders: Azure Executive Tom Keane, in discussing [Microsoft's multimillion dollar contract with Chevron](https://news.microsoft.com/transform/chevron-fuels-digital-transformation-with-new-microsoft-partnership/), asked "How can we [..] more efficiently do oil exploration? Or more efficiently do sensor management from an offshore oil rig?"

Furthermore, Microsoft struck a deal last year with Norweigen petroleum company Equinor worth ["hundreds of millions of dollars"](https://www.marketscreener.com/EQUINOR-1413290/news/Equinor-and-Microsoft-in-Cloud-Services-Partnership-Deal-26794775/) and participated in an oil and gas conference with the goal of ["Empowering Oil and Gas with AI."](https://news.microsoft.com/en-xm/2018/11/12/microsoft-demonstrates-the-power-of-ai-and-cloud-to-oil-and-gas-players-at-adipec-2018/ ) Earlier this year, Microsoft announced a new contract with [Exxon Mobil](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-exxon-mobil-microsoft-cloud/exxon-microsoft-strike-cloud-computing-agreement-for-u-s-shale-idUSKCN1QB1N8
), which the company boasts to be "the industry's largest in cloud computing."
), which the company says is "the industry's largest in cloud computing."

As Microsoft workers, whilst we are proud of the efforts the company has made towards improving sustainability we need to do more.
As Microsoft workers, whilst we are proud of the efforts the company has made towards improving sustainability, we must do more.
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This removes the importance of individual accountability, which is important, and I think we should leave the original wording in place.

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How do you feel about the guilty by association term 'complicit'?

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I think the term 'complicit' is the exact right phrase to use here, because we are guilty by association.


The Global Climate Strike is an opportunity for Microsoft to set an example as a leader in the tech industry. The company has taken many initiatives that focus on individual contributions, such as educating employees on composting, reducing waste, and making our [campus carbon neutral](https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2017/07/14/creating-carbon-free-headquarters-puget-sound-region/ ). There are also efforts to leverage artificial intelligence to solve specific and important climate-related problems. However, given the urgency and complexity of the crisis, these actions are not enough.

If we want to make real impact, all of us need to mobilize, work together, and demand a fundamental change in Microsoft's priorities. It's clear that the tech industry is one of the main culprits behind our burning planet, both in consuming a great deal of fossil fuels through power hungry datacenters and supporting Big Oil companies. But we also have to recognize that we're equipped with so many resources that we can leverage to steer our industry and government in the right direction.
If we want to make real impact, all of us need to mobilize, work together, and demand a fundamental change in Microsoft's priorities.
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I think the rest of this paragraph is an important supporting argument for the first sentence. You could explore wordsmithing it a bit more, but it really needs to remain more or less in place.


Following our mission to "Empower every person and every organization in the planet to achieve more", it is essential that we secure a planet with livable conditions for *everyone*. This includes victims of [disaster displacement](https://weather.com/forecast-change/news/2019-06-04-how-the-middle-east-drought-and-flood-cycle-will-probably-lead-to ) often from the Global South and Black and Brown communities who are [disproportionately affected](https://www.ebony.com/news/environmental-justice-begins-with-understanding-how-climate-change-impacts-african-american-communities/) by climate change.
Following our mission to "Empower every person and every organization in the planet to achieve more", it is essential that we secure a planet with livable conditions for *everyone*.
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I think it's important to leave this part in

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@girifox girifox Sep 19, 2019 •
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Hm I just realised I'm not as good at github as I should be. You mean, you'd want to retain the whole deleted part (line 22)?

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Bumped, as I edited after initial reply. Hm I just realised I'm not as good at github as I should be. You mean, you'd want to retain the whole deleted part (line 22)?

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Yeah, I'd want to keep all of it, to be clear that
a) people are currently being affected by climate change, e.g. by disasters
b) the majority affected are the global south and black and brown communities

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I thought they were good points, too, but didn't think they were directly relevant to the post. I could imagine them being in an essay on the awful reality and social injustices of climate change, of course. Since neither of us can control the master, let's see what happens.

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I agree with @JPumphrey here that it's important to acknowledge the intersectional nature of climate change. If anything, I'd add even more to this section to also include the diversity and inclusivity core priority at Microsoft (which I feel these contracts violate).

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Your edits have a real "All Lives Matter" vibe that frankly seem in poor taste to me. I agree that climate change is currently being felt by marginalized communities to an apocalyptic degree, and the original text reflects that while your edits do not. Seems inappropriate.

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This part particularly should be left as is. Microsoft tends to be more affluent workers, and I think it's very important to center marginalized people. I think it would be particularly tone-deaf to remove this.

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I can see that perspective, because I agree there's a serious problem with social and inequitable impacts from climate change. For example, Bangladesh and the Pacific Islands will be flooded from ocean levels rises, creating millions of climate refugees.
I wish the original author had engaged the Microsoft community in advance of this presumptive post, so some consensus could have been reached on what strength of language people agree with.

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I agree with @ealexjordan

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@girifox it looks like this was co-authored by multiple Microsoft workers. Who are you to claim they didn’t “engage the Microsoft community” just because you weren’t part of it?

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I'm engaged with the worldwide sustainability community, our largest internal climate interest group, and there was no approach or invitation to that group to review a draft. Therefore, the author/s were not inclusive of the whole community, and can't claim to speak for the whole. (Hey I'd be fine if there was a caveat on their post about its voice being from a subset of interested employees. I'm freaked-out about climate change. I care, so I think our energy would be way better invested outward towards positive change, and not bickering about a lack of inclusive on a post like this.)

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This letter doesn't speak for the whole, but rather to the whole. The internal climate interest group is free to listen to it or not, to engage with it or not, and to write its own letter or not. These are two different groups taking two different approaches. This is good! The best activism efforts succeed when there are a diversity of tactics employed.

What gets in the way is when groups start calling out the other's tactics for not conforming to their own views on what is the best way. Right now, this is what you're doing.

I care, so I think our energy would be way better invested outward towards positive change, and not bickering about a lack of inclusive on a post like this.

To be clear, you're the one bickering here and trying to get things changed. If you think your energy is better spent elsewhere, then why are you bickering here?


Big Oil should not have the luxury of choosing the most convenient and profitable service. It is imperative that all tech companies stand together, denounce the usage of Cloud and AI services for non-renewable energy extraction, and work together to put an end to fossil fuel consumption.

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