Big Tech's eco-pledges aren't slowing its pursuit of Big Oil

In this May 6, 2019 file photo, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella delivers the keynote address at Build, the company's annual conference for software developers in Seattle. Microsoft and other tech giants have been competing to strike lucrative partnerships with ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP and other energy firms. One employee stood up to ask Microsoft CEO Nadella about the ethics of the company's oil and gas contracts at an all-staff meeting in Sept. 2019, and Nadella defended the partnerships. Employee activism and outside pressure have pushed big tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Google promising to slash their carbon emissions. When Microsoft held an all-staff meeting in September, an employee asked CEO Satya Nadella if it was ethical for the company to be selling its cloud computing services to fossil fuel companies, according to two other Microsoft employees who described the exchange on condition they not be named.