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Amazon vows to cut emissions to combat climate change

Facing increased pressure from its own employees, Amazon says it ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans that will hit the road by 2021.
Credit: AP
Workers at an Amazon Fulfillment warehouse, shown Monday, July 8, 2019 in Shakopee, Minn., say they'll hit the online retail and entertainment giant with a brief strike next Monday. They're targeting "Prime Day" in a continuing push to improve pay and working conditions for the facility's heavily East African workforce. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

SEATTLE — Amazon, which delivers more than 10 billion items a year on fuel-guzzling planes, vans and trucks, vowed Thursday to cut the amount of damage it does to the environment and report its greenhouse gas emissions regularly.

The online shopping giant has been facing pressure from its own employees to do more to combat climate change and rely less on fossil fuels.

To cut emissions, Amazon says it has ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans that will start hitting the road in 2021. And it plans to have 100% of its energy use come from solar panels and other renewable energy by 2030. That's up from 40% today.

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The announcement comes a day before more than 1,500 Amazon employees pledged to walk off their jobs as part of the Global Climate Strike, in which thousands of people around the world will protest climate change.

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