[biofuel] Ford attacked on fuel policy

[murdoch]

http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosinsider/0402/06/c01-57178.htm

California-based Blue Water Network spearheaded this ad campaign in 
response to Ford's pledge in 2000 to improve SUV fuel economy.

[...]

Ford pledged in July 2000 that the company would improve the fuel 
economy of its SUVs by 25 percent over five years. General Motors 
Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG made similar pledges soon afterward.

[...]


The fuel economy of Ford's light truck lineup was 20.3 mpg for the 
2002 model year, the last year for which the government has published 
complete data. Under federal regulations, an automaker's fleet of 
light trucks must average 20.7 mpg in the 2004 model year. That 
requirement will rise to 22.2 mpg by 2007. Cars must average 27.5 mpg.

You can reach Jeff Plungis at (202) 906-8204 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]

At the time of the 2000 pledges, I tried doing some of the math.  I think the 25
percent improvement that Ford pledged was the bare minimum or close to it, and
that this came out within a tenth of a gallon.  I recall doing the math, and I
was surprised to find that the pledge that Ford was making was not some huge
ambitious thing to be proud of so much as the bare legal requirement.  I'm not
sure if anyone has ever officially seconded these calculations or publicly taken
notice of the matter.  Ford's pledge was *nothing* so far as I could see.  They
were doing basically what all of us do every year about this time, which is drag
our time, kicking and screaming, to comply with the law and take our legally
required actions.  

I therefore came to see it as naive to put much stock in Bill Ford's
environmentalist credentials.  This is not to say that he hasn't convinced
himself that he means well.  I just mean that I did not and do not foresee
making mileage or environmental precaution, a priority any time soon.  He's made
it pretty clear, explicitly, that there are other priorities for the company.

Sure, Environmental PR seems to be a big priority, but the underlying
environmental effort seems to be a priority only insofar as it's easier to do PR
if there's a grain of truth left in it.

Ford's modest mileage efforts (alongside their failure to oppose the
market-skewing anti-competitive tax breaks for the purchase of giant gas
guzzlers) does not address the issue of fuel-types.  The only fuels that can
power new Ford Vehicles are fossil fuels.  The only exception is that E-85 can
power a Ford Flex-Fuel Vehicle and B100 could power a Ford Diesel (though I
don't know if Ford has lifted a finger to maker an effort to help keep such
vehicles under warranty if B100 is used).

Also, Ford conspicuously cancelled the Think City EV program despite evidence of
demand (including the fact that when I went for a Test Drive, to do an article,
there were none on the lot because the dealer had leased every one out).  Such
vehicles as the Think City get excellent mileage per gallon equivalent and if
they were sold by the Automakers, and included in mileage calculations, I think
they could provide some excellent help in making their CAFE-required mileage
numbers.  

But, apparently, the Automakers are so completely against making available a
non-fossil-fuel-powered vehicle that they will not make the effort to fight to
have such vehicles included in the CAFE mileage calculations (I don't know if
they are basically because such vehicles have never been made widely available)
and then take advantage of the good mileage to help meet these supposedly
problematic CAFE requirements.


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[biofuel] Ford attacked on fuel policy

[Keith Addison]

http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosinsider/0402/06/c01-57178.htm

Friday, February 6, 2004

Ford attacked on fuel policy

Environmentalists' campaign takes on Bill Ford Jr. over failed effort 
to improve SUV fuel efficiency

By Jeff Plungis / Detroit News Washington Bureau

California-based Blue Water Network spearheaded this ad campaign in 
response to Ford's pledge in 2000 to improve SUV fuel economy.

WASHINGTON - Ford Chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr., once a favorite of 
environmentalists, has become their prime target in an increasingly 
vitriolic campaign against gas-guzzling vehicles.

In full-page national newspaper ads that began appearing Wednesday, 
the groups depicted Bill Ford with a growing nose, with the banner: 
Bill Ford Jr. or Pinocchio? Don't Buy His Environmental Rhetoric. 
Don't Buy His Cars.

Russell Long, director of the California-based Blue Water Network, 
which is spearheading the campaign, said the ads were in response to 
Ford's broken pledge to improve SUV fuel economy.

Ford pledged in July 2000 that the company would improve the fuel 
economy of its SUVs by 25 percent over five years. General Motors 
Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG made similar pledges soon afterward.

But last year, Ford executives said it would no longer be possible to 
meet the goal, citing an unfavorable business climate and 
technological challenges.

Ford has certainly been up front about the problem of global warming 
and the need to tackle greenhouse gas emissions, Long said. But 
when push comes to shove, they are unwilling to do what's necessary 
to confront the issue in a meaningful way. There's a consequence in 
the real world to breaking one's commitments.

The ads were originally slated to run last summer, Long said, when he 
traveled to Dearborn to speak at the company's annual shareholder 
meeting in June. Instead, the group delayed to meet with company 
officials to discuss steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Long 
met with Ford officials in Dearborn in September.

Long said he asked the company to support a California law to reduce 
carbon dioxide emissions and back national legislation to raise the 
fuel economy average of light trucks to 40 miles per gallon. The 
decision to run the ads came when he concluded the company would not 
make any specific pledge on fuel economy, Long said.

Ford officials said Bill Ford had reaffirmed the company's belief 
that it needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help combat 
global warming at the shareholders meeting.

They described the talks with Blue Water Network as a dialogue, not 
a negotiation.

The Bluewater Network ad does not reflect the reality of Ford Motor 
Co.'s environmental commitments, said Ford spokeswoman Carolyn Brown.

Bill Ford has described himself as a life-long environmentalist and 
was initially embraced by activists after he became chairman of Ford 
Motor in 1999. But he has said recently that environmentalists are 
taking advantage of his high profile to draw headlines.

Brown cited Ford's marketing of extremely clean partial zero 
emissions versions of its Focus sedan, wagon and hatchback, a 
forthcoming gas-electric hybrid version of the Escape SUV and the 
company's commitment to fuel-cell research.

The fuel economy of Ford's light truck lineup was 20.3 mpg for the 
2002 model year, the last year for which the government has published 
complete data. Under federal regulations, an automaker's fleet of 
light trucks must average 20.7 mpg in the 2004 model year. That 
requirement will rise to 22.2 mpg by 2007. Cars must average 27.5 mpg.

You can reach Jeff Plungis at (202) 906-8204 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]


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