Tim Cook defends Apple’s sustainability programs against shareholders

At a shareholders meeting on Friday, CEO Tim Cook angrily defended Apple’s environmentally-friendly practices against a request from the conservative National Center for Public Policy Research to drop those practices if they ever became unprofitable. NCPPR put forward a shareholder’s proposal asking Apple to disclose how much it spends on sustainability programs. If those costs detracted from Apple’s bottom line, the NCPPR demanded that Apple discontinue the programs and commit only to projects that are explicitly profitable.

Of the roomful of investors and journalists who heard Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook lose his southern cool during the Q&A portion of the company’s annual stockholders meeting Friday, The Mac Observer‘s Brian Chaffin tells it best: “[A] self-described conservative think tank was pushing a shareholder proposal that would have required Apple to disclose the costs of its sustainability programs and to be more transparent about its participation in “certain trade associations and business organizations promoting the amorphous concept of environmental sustainability”. During the question and answer session, however, the NCPPR representative asked Mr. Cook two questions, both of which were in line with the principles espoused in the group’s proposal.