Just because you’re green in some areas, doesn’t mean consumers will give you a pass if your business partners aren’t green.

Such a relationship now threatens to tarnish Verizon’s green image because it has joined ranks with coal companies that like to chop off the tops of mountains.

But why? To get rid of those damn piles of coal and dirt and trees? Are they making it tough for Verizon’s ad man to get an answer to his “Can you hear me now?” question down the hollows?

That’s the way the Natural Resources Defense Council and the online news service, The Huffington Post, are reacting to Verizon’s decision to sell its wireless services at this weekend’s “Friends of America” rally. The rally at a strip mine in Logan, WV, is for those who support mountaintop removal as a mining technique and who oppose taking action on global warming.

Oh, and Verizon’s now a union-busting company because the key sponsor of the rally is Massey Energy, which is leading the push to remove mountain tops at its strip mines and is known for being anti-union. The NRDC blog post is here. The Huffington blog post is here.

Some environmental groups, like NRDC and the Center for Biological Diversity, are even calling for a boycott of Verizon for its participating in the Labor Day weekend event. The Center’s call for a boycott is here.

Verizon’s crime: Pitching a sales tent at the event to sell phones and wireless services.

The boycott brouhaha has other environmental groups scratching their heads because Verizon has been on the green bandwagon for several years. Verizon has tallied up a number of green points by investing solar panels and fuel cells. It also requires its suppliers to adopt energy-efficiency programs. Verizon’s green programs are detailed here.

The wireless company has even received an award — this year — from the Environmental Defense Fund for cutting its energy demand and thereby cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Verizon did it by installing software that automatically puts computers to sleep when they’re not in use. This not only helps save the planet, but also saves Verizon $7 million a year.

Verizon also uses “thin client” computers that connect to off-site servers to cut down on local call center electricity bills, which cut costs by 30%. For more details, click here.

Tags: EDF, energy efficiency, fuel cells, Massey Energy, NRDC, solar panels, Verizon