Ford Needs to Break from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a $200 million-per-year lobbying and legal organization with thousands of large and small business members across the nation, has decided to take an aggressive, anti-science stance on the pressing issue of climate change. The Ford Motor Company, on the other hand, has seemingly emerged as a leading force in an U.S. transition toward a clean energy economy. In June 2009, Ford co-hosted the “National Summit” in Detroit, a massive event bringing together leaders from across the business spectrum to talk about the challenges facing the U.S. economy. William Ford Jr., the chairman of the board of Ford, and a long-time, self-proclaimed environmental advocate said in his opening remarks that:
"We now have an opportunity to preserve our environment and our manufacturing base by applying breakthrough technologies to create energy-efficient processes and products. We can gain a clear competitive advantage by becoming leaders in this green technology. No single organization or industry can do this alone. It is going to take crossfunctional cooperation to achieve leadership, and create the massive changes that are so urgently needed. It also is going to take government involvement."
Many of Ford’s public actions have been consistent with these remarks. The company has made a commitment to important government policies toward cleaner cars, endorsing the Obama administration’s national clean car standards. U.S. light duty vehicles will consume 1.3 million fewer barrels of oil per day in 2020 due to improved fuel economy under the national program. This translates into a savings of nearly 20 billion gallons of gasoline in just one year. As a result of these oil savings, consumers will save money at the gas pump. Even if prices stay at current levels ($2.50/gallon), U.S. consumers will save $32 billion in 2020. Ford is also expected to drop out of pending legal efforts attempting to block states from implementing complementary tailpipe regulations in the near-term.
Ford is also making a commitment to fuel saving technologies, with a more aggressive integration of its “Eco Boost” conventional technology into its fleet, and an expansion of its hybrid fleet into the sedan market with the impressive Ford Fusion hybrid and Mercury Milan hybrid models. Ford seems to be benefiting from its commitment, as its U.S. hybrid sales for the first nine months of 2009 are 73 percent higher than the same period in 2008, fueled by the Fusion/Milan hybrids which went on sale in March 2009. Ford is now touting its environmental record in Washington DC with a blitz of billboard ads in the Metro subway system.
But there is one striking incongruity in Ford’s actions, and that is one of inaction. Ford remains a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Recently, large energy companies Exelon and PG&E have broken with the Chamber, as did Apple Computers, all citing irreconcilable differences between their companies’ views on the need to tackle the urgent problem of global warming and the Chamber’s regressive actions. Microsoft has also said that the views of the Chamber on climate change do not represent theirs, and Nike recently left Chamber’s board of directors for the same reason.
To date, Ford has taken no public action distancing itself from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, even as the Chamber sues to block the EPA from regulating global warming emissions under the Clean Air Act. The Chamber is also suing to stop the EPA from allowing states to move forward with clean car standards that go beyond the national standards’ 2016 timeline. As we know, the state clean car standards started in California and adopted by a dozen other states were a key factor in bringing about the current strong national clean car rule, and are sure to be a crucial as standards are developed post-2016.
Yet Ford remains silent on the issue of the Chamber’s actions, and in April 2009, hired Pete Lawson, the Chamber’s vice president of congressional and public affairs, to serve as their vice president of government relations. Ford’s membership in the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers also ties it to another Chamber-led group attempting to undermine any concrete action on climate change, the Alliance for Clean Energy and Economic Growth (AEEG). The president of the Auto Alliance is on the management team of AEEG, a group that last year lobbied members of the U.S. Senate to vote against the comprehensive climate legislation, saying it “could jeopardize energy supplies and harm the nation’s economic growth.”
The continued association between Ford and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce only serves to undermine the automaker’s ability to be a trusted brand for those that are looking for cleaner, more efficient vehicles. While William Ford Jr. is not in charge of day-to-day operations for the company, his position as chairman of the board of directors puts him in a perfect position to influence the relationship between Ford Motor Company and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It is time for him to speak out on this issue and show that Ford’s commitment to a clean energy economy is more than just rhetoric.
