No, it's not a breakthrough in genetically engineered produce, it's a pledge by Apple C.E.O. Steve Jobs in response to, well, a lot of things.

Jobs has released an 1,800-word letter on apple.com explaining the company's environmental practices and comparing itself to its competitors in the industry. While the letter represents a commitment to expanding current green initiatives, it also reads as a strong defense of Apple's current practices.

But why did Jobs choose to release his letter now? Let's run through the reasons:

The Veep Made Him Do It:

Al Gore, author of Earth in the Balance and star of the environmental doomsday documentary, An Inconvenient Truth has been a member of Apple's Board since 2003. Gore recently sided with the board to oppose two shareholder initiatives that would've held Apple's feet to the fire on the use of toxic chemicals and recycling of old computers.

Option to Change the Subject:

Former C.F.O. Fred Anderson has had a war of words with his former employer, saying Jobs and the Board are both to blame for options accounting improprieties even after the SEC said that it wouldn't file charges against them.

As Home Depot and Wal-Mart have recently discovered, announcing green initiatives in the face of bad news is a great way to divert media attention from things like $100 million C.E.O. pay packages and ongoing battles over worker wages and benefits.

Greener Than Greenpeace:

Apple has been in the eco-protest organization's sights for years now, and lately Greenpeace has stepped up its campaign, launching a Website detailing Apple's sins, and even filming spoofs of the computer maker's "Mac vs. PC" television spots.

But now, Jobs says, "Upon investigating Apple's current practices ... Apple is ahead of, or will soon be ahead of, most of its competitors in these areas ... It is certainly clear that we have failed to communicate the things that we are doing well."

Apple's message to Greenpeace: As a highly visible symbol of the industry, we know you'd like to hop on our publicity train, but quite frankly, go back to chasing oil tankers, we're doing just fine.

And according to Jobs, Apple is doing just fine. Every point in his letter contains a note that reads like this one: "In one environmental group's recent scorecard, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo all scored higher than Apple because of their plans (or "plans for releasing plans" in the case of H.P.). In reality, Apple is ahead of all of these companies in eliminating toxic chemicals from its products."

Whichever reason -- or combination of reasons -- led to Jobs' announcement, it's clear Apple feels like it's already been doing the right thing, environmentally speaking.

With the greening of everything from office buildings to light bulbs taking center stage in the media this year, it was time to stop letting Greenpeace and competitors like H.P., Dell and Lenovo (http://news.digitaltrends.com/article12613.html) claim an unfair share of the do-gooder spotlight.

Regardless of the hubbub, Apple's record earnings last quarter have made it clear that in consumer's eyes, the company is doing just fine. Even Greenpeace can't seem to stay mad, admitting on its Website, "We love Apple."

And on Macrumors, a message board for aficionados, reaction to Jobs' letter, which reveals some future products in store for the famously secretive company, has been, er, distracted.

Many users have applauded Apple's announcement, but user BlakTornado, like many others, seems to be a green-agnostic: "This is great news! And it looks like they will have changed the iMacs for the better just in time for my purchase!"

by Paul Smalera