Motor vehicles are responsible for almost a quarter of America's annual carbon dioxide emissions, the primary global-warming gas. But while global warming pollution and oil use from autos is one of our most pressing national, economic, and environmental security problems, it is also one of the most solvable.
The most effective near-term way automakers can help America reduce its CO2 emissions and its dependence on oil is by using existing, cost-effective technologies to increase the fuel economy of today's vehicles.
Unfortunately, the Ford Motor Company recently took a step backward in that effort, announcing that it will abandon its commitment to produce 250,000 hybrid vehicles a year by 2010. This is the second time Ford has failed to follow through on a major fuel economy commitment.
Ford's shift away from hybrids is a shift away from a genuine attempt to address America's oil use.
Please tell CEO and Chairman Bill Ford Jr. that consumers want and deserve more fuel efficient vehicle choices--not more greenwashing rhetoric.
Dear Bill Ford Jr.,
I am disappointed that the Ford Motor Company, which markets itself as the leader in American hybrid vehicle innovation, has decided to abandon its bold hybrid production commitment.
[your comment here]
This is the second time you have backed away from a genuine fuel economy commitment and I am losing faith in your company and its ability to deliver the product I need to fight high gasoline prices and U.S. oil dependence.
Ford claims it will make more flexible fuel vehicles in place of hybrids. As a consumer, I am not interested in purchasing a vehicle that only reduces U.S. oil dependence when running on fuel currently hard to find. Less than one percent of gas stations in this country sell the E85 ethanol these vehicles can run on.
Expanding sales of your hybrid system and putting other cost-effective, off-the-shelf conventional technologies into all of your vehicles is the most effective way that you can help America decrease its dependence on oil and save me money at the pump.
Producing more ethanol-capable vehicles would be a welcome step if it were combined with your commitment to produce 250,000 hybrid vehicles a year by 2010. As a replacement for your previous commitment, it smacks of nothing more than greenwashing, and an attempt to take further advantage of the so-called "dual fuel loophole" in Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations.
As a consumer, and an American, I ask you to reconsider and reverse this decision. I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
[your name]
[your address]
