E8's Eric Berman comments on the "tit-for-tat" between Amazon and Microsoft & on renewable energy

The Seattle Time's Ben Romano solicited comments from the around our region on Amazon's announcement of its new $2 Billion venture fund to support the development of sustainable technologies and services In the article, Amazon reports 15% rise in greenhouse gas emissions, announces $2 billion low-carbon investment fund, E8 Co-Chair Eric Berman gleefully noted: “I love watching the tit-for-tat going between Amazon and Microsoft on this,” said Eric Berman, president of E8, an early stage investment group focused on clean technology and sustainability for the last 14 years. “They’re each trying to one-up each other and I think that is a fantastic thing.”

Romano noted "Amazon is also spending heavily on large-scale renewable energy projects and sent a strong signal about its view of the business case for wind and solar energy with a new goal to power its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of the timeline it targeted last fall. The company said 42% of its electricity came from renewable sources in 2019."

That acceleration, Berman said, “suggests that they can do this profitably. … As the price of renewables has fallen below the price of fossil fuels, there’s no turning back.”