Gore violated Apple’s ethics rules?

Shareholders want to know.

Below is the media release from the National Center for Public Policy Research.

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Apple Shareholders Urged to Vote for Conflict of Interest Shareholder Proposal to Determine if Al Gore Violated Apple’s Business Conduct Policy

Shareholders Have a Right to Know if Gore’s Personal Financial Interests are Conflicting with His Board Responsibilities, says National Center for Public Policy Research

Washington, D.C. – Today the National Center for Public Policy Research is urging Apple shareholders to vote for shareholder proposal # 4 in Apple’s 2012 proxy statement.

The proposal, submitted by the National Center for Public Policy Research, asks Apple to determine if board member Al Gore violated the company’s Business Conduct Policy. At issue is whether Gore played a role in Apple’s 2009 decision to end its membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as part of an effort to pressure the trade group to stop opposing greenhouse gas regulations.

Several companies, including Apple, ended their relationship with the Chamber over the trade group’s aggressive opposition to the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill and EPA regulation of carbon emissions.

Gore’s significant personal investments in renewable energy and related technologies would have benefited from these greenhouse gas regulations.

“Board members are obligated to look out for shareholder interests and not for their own personal financial goals. Shareholders have a right to know if Gore was involved in Apple’s decision to end its membership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,” said Tom Borelli, Ph.D., director of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project.

“It’s no secret that Gore has a significant financial stake in clean energy and cap-and-trade would have boosted his investments. If Gore was behind Apple’s decision regarding the Chamber, I believe his involvement was driven by a personal profit motive without regard to the best interests of shareholders,” added Borelli.

Gore is a founder of Generation Investment Management and a partner in the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers – firms that have significant investments in clean energy and environmentally-related products.

According to the New York Times, “Mr. Gore has invested a significant portion of the tens of millions of dollars he has earned since leaving government in 2001 in a broad array of environmentally-friendly energy and technology business ventures, like carbon trading markets, solar cells and waterless urinals.”

Apple’s business conduct policy defines a conflict of interest as “…any activity that is inconsistent with or opposed to Apple’s best interests, or that gives the appearance of impropriety or divided loyalty.”

“Since Apple’s business in computers and electronic devices does not make it a major emitter of greenhouse gases, global warming regulations are not a core business issue for the company. This fact raises questions why the company would weigh in on a policy issue matter such as greenhouse gas regulations. Because Apple’s decision could have benefited Gore and not the company, we filed this shareholder proposal and urge shareholders to vote for our proposal,” said Borelli.

The National Center for Public Policy Research is a shareholder in Apple. The company’s annual shareholder meeting will be held on February 23, 2012 at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.

The National Center For Public Policy Research is a conservative, free-market, non-profit think-tank established in 1982. It is supported by the voluntary gifts of over 100,000 individual recent supporters, receiving approximately one percent of its revenue from corporate sources. Contributions to it are tax-deductible.