[sustran] fwd: Ford Withdraws From Global Climate Coalition

SUSTRAN Resource Centre sustran at po.jaring.my
Wed Dec 8 18:47:22 JST 1999


>http://www.nytimes.com/99/12/07/news/financial/ford-coalition.html
>New  York Times
>p.  C20
>December 7, 1999
>
>Ford Announces Its  Withdrawal From Global Climate Coalition
>
>By KEITH  BRADSHER
>
>DETROIT -- In a concession to environmentalists, the Ford  Motor
>Co. said Monday that it would pull out of the Global  Climate
>Coalition, a group of big manufacturers and oil and mining companies  that
>lobbies against restrictions on emissions of gases linked to  global
>warming.
>
>Ford's decision is the latest sign of divisions within  heavy industry over
>how to respond to global warming. British Petroleum and  Shell pulled out
>of the coalition two years ago following criticisms >from  environmental
>groups in Europe, where there has been more public concern than in the
>United States. Most scientists believe that emissions from  automobiles,
>power plants and other man-made sources are warming the  Earth's
>atmosphere.
>
>British Petroleum and Shell were so-called  general, or junior, members of
>the lobbying group. Ford is the first company  belonging to the board that
>has withdrawn, and the first American company to  leave the coalition,
>said Frank Maisano, a spokesman for the  coalition.
>
>Ford's chairman since the beginning of this year, William C.  Ford Jr., is a
>great-grandson of Henry Ford and has long been active in  environmental
>causes. He has conceded that global warming is an international  problem
>that requires action, although he has echoed other industry leaders  in
>opposing the global warming agreement reached two years ago in  Kyoto,
>Japan. That agreement, signed by more than 100 nations, calls  for
>reducing man-made emissions of carbon dioxide and other global
>warming  gases by industrialized countries.
>
>Environmentalists had questioned  whether Ford's company had shifted its
>position much, and demanded that Ford  leave the coalition. "Over the
>course of time," said Terry  Bresnihan, a spokesman for the automaker,
>"membership in the Global  Climate Coalition has become something of an
>impediment for Ford Motor to  credibly achieving our environmental
>objectives."
>
>Bresnihan said  Ford remains opposed to the Kyoto agreement because
>developing nations are  largely exempt from its rules. Connie Holmes, the
>coalition's chairman, said  the group opposed the Kyoto agreement and
>wanted more scientific research  into whether global warming was a
>problem, adding that she did not believe  Ford's current position was
>much different from the  coalition's.
>
>Ford's predecessor as chairman, Alexander Trotman, who  became a
>British life peer earlier this year, had been one of corporate  America's
>most outspoken leaders in opposing international pacts on  global
>warming. Lord Trotman and his counterparts from General Motors  and
>Chrysler met with President Clinton in October, 1997, and tried to  talk
>him out of seeking an agreement two months later in Kyoto.  After
>meeting the president, Lord Trotman held a press conference outside  the
>White House and denounced the administration's  position.
>___________________________________________
>Savitha  Pathi
>Program Assistant
>Environmental Media Services
>1320 18th Street  NW
>Washington, DC  20036
>Tel: (202) 463-6670 / Fax: (202)  463-6671
>E-Mail: savitha at ems.org
>http://www.ems.org
>
>



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