White House announces list of companies to join climate pledge

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The White House announced a list of large U.S. companies that have joined the pledge to be more climate-friendly.

Another 73 companies joined the American Business Act on Climate Pledge, making a total of 154 companies that have signed on for general and specific goals to support clean energy, reduce waste and lower their carbon footprints.

The pledge was launched in July and the latest group to join features a list of the some of the largest companies in the country including 21st Century Fox, Amazon, Ben & Jerry's, BMW North America, Cisco, Dupont, Honda, Jetblue, Kaiser Permanente, Kohl's department stores, News Corp., Staples, Verizon and Volvo.

With the U.N. climate talks taking place this week in Paris, the White House has been busy shoring up support in the business community for more eco-friendly business practices. The companies agreeing to the pledge account for more than $4.2 trillion in annual revenue and employ 11 million people.

Companies signing the pledge agree to support a strong outcome in Paris, as well as a promise over an unspecified period of time to reduce emissions by 50 percent, reduce water usage by up to 80 percent, achieve zero waste to landfills, purchase 100 percent renewable energy and pursue zero net deforestation in their supply chains.

Some of the other companies already signed to the pledge are Alcoa, American Express, Apple, AT & T, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, Dell, Disney, Facebook, GE, General Motors, Google, Hershey's, HP, IBM, Ikea, Johnson & Johnson, Kelloggs, Levi Strauss, L'Oreal, McDonalds, Microsoft, Monsanto, Nike, Pepsi, Proctor & Gamble, Sony, Starbucks, Target, UPS, Walmart and Xerox.