Climate Protesters Target Apple Store, Criticize Big Tech's Environmental Stance

5th Avenue Apple Store spray-painted by climate action protesters

New York's flagship Fifth Avenue Apple Store was spray-painted by climate change protesters, calling for a boycott of the company. Three slogans were sprayed onto the glass frontage of the store, with Extinction Rebellion accusing Apple of hypocrisy on environmental issues ... Three messages were sprayed onto the glass panes of the iconic storefront: While a group of protestors were present and chanting, all the vandalism appears to have been done by a single individual, who was quickly arrested at the scene. What appear to be Apple security staff were seen cleaning off the paint, with the "Tim" name the first thing to be removed. Extinction Rebellion (XR) said that Apple was guilty of hypocrisy by citing its own environmental credentials while its CEO made a donation to Trump, and the company remained silent on the US pulling out of the Paris Agreement on limiting carbon emissions. "In 2023, Tim Cook called combating climate change one of the most urgent priorities of our time. Fast forward to 2025, and he's donating to Trump -- the man leading the charge to roll back all climate progress. They've betrayed their customers and the planet at the most critical moment in human history," said XR spokesperson Miles Grant. Google and Meta also came under fire. Front and center at Trump's 2025 inauguration were the same CEOs -- Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, Mark Zuckerberg -- who once claimed to be big supporters of the Paris Agreement. They're backing an administration that's gutting environmental rules and funneling billions of dollars to fossil fuels, while billions of people sweat through record heat. As inequality mounts and once-in-a-century natural disasters now occur every year, Big Tech stays quiet -- choosing profits over principles and access over accountability. The group additionally protested the growing energy cost of AI services. Big Tech's AI binge is one of the planet's fastest-growing sources of carbon emissions. Google's greenhouse gas emissions have shot up more than 50% since 2019, fueled by energy-hungry AI data centers. XR is calling on people to "boycott tech companies that enable authoritarianism and expand fossil fuel use."

Anti-Trump Climate Protesters Storm NYC Apple Store, Confront CEO Tim Cook Amid Texas Flood Crisis - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Demonstrators gathered inside and outside of New York City's 5th Avenue Apple store on Sunday to denounce big tech companies for backtracking on their previous support of the Paris Climate Agreement and to protest the Trump administration, which protestors say is funneling billions of dollars to fossil fuel companies. Inside the store, a group led by Extinction Rebellion NYC unfurled a banner and chanted "Dump Trump, Apple!" Police officers were called and quickly ejected the protesters. At least one person was arrested, per local media. Outside the popular Apple Store, more activists were spray-painting the words "Boycott" and "Tim + Trump = Toxic," referencing Apple AAPL CEO Tim Cook. What Say You, Mr. Cook? In an X post in September 2023, Cook seemed to be down with the cause. "At Apple, we believe that climate change is one of the world's most urgent priorities and we are deeply committed to doing our part. Today we had a special guest -- a real force of nature -- stop by to check on our progress." Then things changed when Trump was elected. "Every policy, every business decision, every vote must confront the reality that our planet's future is on the line. Big Tech promised leadership, but when the heat was on, they sat silent -- front and center at Trump's inauguration, funding a regime that's gutting climate protections," said Devin Lilly, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion. Texas Floods And Climate Change The Sunday protest occurred as the death toll from flooding in Central Texas rose to at least 67 lives. Some state officials are blaming the tragedy on a faulty forecast by the new National Weather Service, which was gutted by Trump-Musk-DOGE cost cuts and the firing of the agency's most experienced personnel. "The original forecast we received on Wednesday from the National Weather Service predicted 3-6" of rain in the Concho Valley and 4-8" of rain in the hill country," said one official, adding that the amount of rain that fell in these locations was never in any of their forecasts. Climate Change: Data Centers To Blame? Data centers, which power artificial intelligence models and cloud computing, consume vast amounts of electricity, much of it sourced from fossil fuels. A study reported by Benzinga found that pollution from Big Tech's data centers has cost the U.S. public health system an estimated $5.4 billion over the past five years. Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOG Google, Microsoft Corp. MSFT, and Meta Platforms Inc. META are among the biggest contributors. Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, and Meta expect to spend over $320 billion on AI this year, up from $151 billion in 2023 and $246 billion in 2024. Photo: Courtesy Extinction Rebellion NYC AAPLApple Inc$213.550.52%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum25.28Growth32.10Quality76.54Value9.12Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewAMZNAmazon.com Inc$223.011.41%GOOGAlphabet Inc$180.540.43%METAMeta Platforms Inc$717.410.54%MSFTMicrosoft Corp$498.001.41%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs