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Do you use Facebook?  Do you know somebody that does?  Then you ought to to sign this petition.

Facebook wants to power its new Oregon data center with dirty coal from Idaho.  Not only is there an energy loss involved with the distribution of power from Idaho to Oregon, coal is commonly known to be the dirtiest way to generate electricity.

Mike Rogoway reports on Oregonlive.com that Facebook was “drawn to the region by reliable and affordable power, a favorable climate and tax breaks.”

Data centers consume huge amounts of power and generate a great deal of heat from the rows and rows of computer servers that store and process the information.

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Facebook said it has contracted with Pacific Power to supply electricity to the facility, but the company would not say how much power it will use.

“They obviously use an awful lot (of electricity), but they need to be located somewhere,” said Bob Jenks, executive director of the Citizens’ Utility Board.

Seventy percent of Pacific Power’s energy is generated by coal, according to Jenks. But the utility isn’t building any new coal-fired plants, he said, and Facebook’s arrival won’t change that.

“We’re not going to argue with industrial growth in Oregon,” Jenks said, “as long as it’s paying its cost on the power system.”

The new 35 jobs that will be brought to Prineville may help the local economy somewhat, but the devastating impact on the environment will far outweigh these benefits.

This petition may change things.

It demands that Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO) and Jonathan Heiliger (Facebook VP of Technical Operations) choose a wiser energy source.

Facebook should be choosing renewable or at least less destructive sources for its huge energy needs.

Sign this petition and send Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg an email directly asking him to keep Facebook off coal.

Here are additional Facebook Executive bios

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