“Ford’s green rhetoric is like a hood ornament – it may look
pretty but it does nothing for performance,” said Kert Davies,
Greenpeace Climate Campaign Coordinator. ” Ford needs to put
substance to its words by supporting the Kyoto Global Warming
Treaty.”
Greenpeace contends that Ford is in lock step with the Bush
administration and its corporate allies when it comes to the Kyoto
Protocol. Indeed, Ford is a member of a business lobbying group,
the U.S. Council of International Business (USCIB), which has
actively supported President Bush in his efforts to kill the
Protocol.
Greenpeace views the Kyoto Protocol as an important first step
in the international communities’ efforts to cut CO2 emissions, the
major greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. The
overwhelming scientific consensus states that human activity is
causing global warming, it’s getting worse and only action now can
prevent more problems in the future. The Kyoto Protocol calls for
mandatory cuts in CO2 emissions, a standard supported by
environmentalists, and some companies and governments around the
world.
“Ford risks falling into the environmental scrap-heap if it
sticks to its line opposing the Kyoto targets for cutting
greenhouse pollution,” said Davies. “Ford’s current position leaves
them in the same camp as GM, Exxon-Mobil and the other corporate
polluters of the world.”
Greenpeace has placed an action alert on its U.S. and international
web sites, urging activists to email Ford about the Kyoto Protocol.
As of June 19, 2001, close to 8,000 such emails had been sent, with
thousands more expected in the coming weeks. In addition,
Greenpeace is helping to organize protests at Ford dealerships
across the country at the end of June, hitting the auto maker
during a busy sales period.
