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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SIERRA CLUB CONDEMNS "GREENWASHING" BY GENERAL MOTORS The Sierra Club condemned General Motors today for failing to meet one of America's key environmental laws and engaging instead in a "scam" to achieve technical compliance. GM's fleet of sport utility vehicles (SUVs), mini-vans, and other light trucks once again fails to meet federal miles per gallon (CAFE) standards - standards that have been stagnant for nearly ten years. Faced with a hefty fine, the management of GM has announced plans to use a little-known loophole in the federal miles per gallon law to continue churning out massively inefficient vehicles and raking in profits. A loophole in the CAFE law gives automakers "extra-credit" for building cars that can run on ethanol. Back in the 1980's, when the amendment to CAFE was passed, the idea was to curb US reliance on imported oil. GM has something else in mind. Their scheme is to make the same old gas-guzzling SUVs and vans they have always made, but adapt them so that they can burn either gasoline or ethanol. This would give them "credit" for building a clean fuel car. GM can then use these credits to churn out even more gas-guzzling vehicles, and dodge the hefty fines they've earned for violating the law. "GM shouldn't use dirty tricks to evade environmental laws," said Dan Becker, Director of the Sierra Club Global Warming and Energy Program. "They should clean up their act by taking anti-pollution technology off the shelves in Detroit and put it on their cars and SUVs." What's worse, GM portrays these efforts to dodge the law as a program to help the environment. The fact is, there are fewer than 40 gas stations in the entire nation that sell ethanol, so it will be nearly impossible for the owners of these adapted sport utility vehicles and vans to burn anything but gasoline. "How do you make a 13 mpg gas guzzler look like an 80 mpg eco-mobile? You use sleazy loopholes to evade the law." said Steve Pedery, a global warming expert at the Sierra Club. "This GM ploy is worthy of Joe Izuzu. GM says 'Presto Chango!' and a 13 mpg Suburban gets the same CAFE credit as an 80 mpg clean fuel vehicle." The more gas a vehicle guzzles the more pollution it emits. A 14 mile per gallon SUV spews 70 tons of carbon dioxide, the primary global warming pollutant, into the air over its lifetime. Gas guzzling also means more oil drilling and more reliance on OPEC. More fuel efficient vehicles are the biggest single step to curbing global warming and saving oil. "When it comes to meeting their environmental obligations, the management of General Motors are definitely "People In Motion," said Pedery. "Unfortunately, their motion is in the wrong direction." Up to Top |
