Virgin Group founder Richard Branson is jumping to Apple CEO Tim Cook's side in his war of words with conservative think tank National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) regarding companies' green initiatives.

Saying there is no compelling data supporting climate change, the group, which owns Apple stock, pushed a proposal that would have forced Apple to disclose costs about its sustainability programs and its relationships with "certain trade associations and business organizations promoting the amorphous concept of environmental sustainability," noting that "investors have a right to know how "green" programs affect company's bottom line."

In response, Cook said at a press conference that anyone against the company's environmental efforts should "get out of the stock." Shareholders rejected the proposal at their annual meeting Feb. 27.

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"I'm enormously impressed with Apple CEO Tim Cook for his strong words on climate change deniers, and demanding business should have benefits for people and the planet, beyond just profit," Branson stated in a virgin.com blog post.

Branson supports Cook's argument that sustainability can improve a company's bottom line and agrees with him that profit is not a business' only motivation.

Branson has long been active in supporting sustainability efforts. He is a founder and co-chair of the B Team, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting sustainability.

"If 97 percent of climate scientists agreeing that climate-warming trends over the past century are due to human activities isn't compelling data, I don't know what is," Branson said.

"More businesses should be following Apple's stance in encouraging more investment in sustainability. While Tim told sustainability skeptics to 'get out of our stock,' I would urge climate change deniers to get out of our way."

"Big talk from a guy who got rich burning jet fuel," responded the NCPPR in its blog. "We hear he wants to go to the moon or Mars or something now. Solar-powered rocket?"

"Apple is as obsessed with the theory of so-called climate change as its board member Al Gore is," said Nipper's Free Enterprise Project Justin Danhof in a press release titled "Tim Cook to Apple Investors: Drop Dead."

"The company's CEO fervently wants investors who care more about return on investments than reducing CO2 emissions to no longer invest in Apple. Maybe they should take him up on that advice."

Bryan Chaffin, co-founder and editor at The Mac Observer, also blasted the NCPPR as an "avid climate change denier."

On the surface, the proposal called for transparency, Chaffin wrote. "What's below the surface illustrates that the NCPPR is pursuing an agenda that elevates the pursuit of anything and everything in the name of profit as something approaching a holy goal," he explained.

"Mixed in with language touting the importance of transparency are statements that also emphasize that outdated, unsustainable and ultimately destructive agenda."

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