On Wednesday, February 8, 2012, Greenpeace International will release the 5^thversion of its "Cool IT Leaderboard," which evaluates Information Technology companies on their efforts to combat climate change and shift to renewable energy sources. This latest version of the Leaderboard ranks 21 companies across three areas: Climate Solutions, Energy Impact and Political Advocacy.

The rapid expansion of the telecommunications infrastructure and the data centers that power the 'Cloud' is driving significant energy demand in many areas, much of it from dirty sources, such as coal and diesel. The Cool IT Leaderboard puts global IT companies in the spotlight as this sector possesses the innovative spirit, technological know-how, and political influence to bring about a rapid clean energy revolution.

This new ranking comes on the heels of Greenpeace's recently announced agreement with Facebook to push for a rapid transition to clean energy, ending its nearly two-year campaign to get Facebook to "unfriend coal." Facebook made a long-term commitment to power its platform with renewable energy, and will be using its buying power to influence electric utilities to provide more clean energy.

 The Leaderboard is part of Greenpeace's wider campaign to challenge the IT industry to use its innovative skills and ingenuity to lead the way to scalable solutions aimed to reduce global emissions.