[BusinessWeek] Ford to write a report on global warming

[420inTN]

The Associated Press/DETROIT
By DEE-ANN DURBIN
AP Auto Writer

MAR. 31 3:52 P.M. ET Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it will write a report about global warming, including details on emissions from Ford vehicles and factories, in response to complaints from some shareholders that the nation's second biggest automaker isn't doing enough to reduce pollution.

A group of environmentally oriented shareholders responded by withdrawing a petition asking Ford to detail how it plans to remain competitive as environmental laws get stricter in California and elsewhere.

Ford plans to complete the report by the end of the year and said it will consult with climate experts in addition to the shareholders.

"We have long identified climate change as a serious environmental issue, and shareholders are increasingly asking about the risks as well as the opportunities associated with it," Ford chairman and CEO Bill Ford said in a statement. "It's time for a broader, more inclusive public dialogue on the complex and important challenge of climate change."

more, full story here

[Sannum]

1. Isn't this like Michael Jackson writing a report on child abuse?

[420inTN]

2. Yeah, this ought to be interesting...

or it could be a "fox in the henhouse" report... i.e, nothing to see here, all's good.

[KansDem]

4. Yeah, they'll blame global warming US intelligence agencies...!

They'll jump on the bandwagon while they can...

[WLKjr]

3. Ford Mtr Company, please listen to what I have to say:

I am telling you right now, jump on and start developing hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles. Be the leader and innovator again, get people excited about them and build the plants here in the US, so that every American can afford to buy one. It worked for Henry in the early 20th century, it can work again.

It's time to get America moving again. This time on REAL alternatives to fossil fuel!

[420inTN]

6. They have been

http://www.ford.com/en/innovation/engineFuelTechnology/default.htm

[WLKjr]

7. Well they need to speed it up then

[420inTN]

8. Rome wasn't built in a day n/t

[WLKjr]

9. Well this is the 21st century, and it can be done in a few years tops

IMHO

[central scrutinizer]

5. here are a few excerpts from WSJ article

don't have a link and I think it costs money anyway, but I received it via email today:

By JEFFREY BALL
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
March 31, 2005; Page D7

Ford Motor Co., in the latest move by a big U.S. company to talk up the
issue of global warming, is expected to announce today that it will
produce a report on how the environmental issue could affect its global
business.

Ford's move is a concession to shareholder activists who have been
pressuring the auto maker for several years to do more to address
global warming. Automobiles are a big source of carbon dioxide, a chief
suspected global-warming gas. The main way to reduce automotive
carbon-dioxide emissions is to improve the fuel economy of cars and
trucks.
.............snip..............

Activists who have been pushing U.S. companies on global warming said
Ford's promised report is important. "Are they making a commitment in
this particular statement to bring their down? No, not
yet," said Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, a Boston-based coalition
of investors and environmental groups that has helped coordinate the
shareholder resolutions at Ford and elsewhere. Still, she said, she
thinks Ford's report "will end up informing a changed business model
for the company."