By Daily Press staff
Environmentalists gathered in front of Santa Monica Ford Monday to send a message to the automobile manufacturer to change its ways.
The Sierra Club kicked off a campaign to encourage local Ford dealers to urge Ford Motor Company to support the state’s global warming law and bring low emission cars to dealership floors.
Local civic and social leaders gathered in front of Santa Monica Ford to urge the car dealership to ask for more cars, trucks and SUVs that go farther and pollute less on a gallon of gas.
“Santa Monica residents know the economic and moral value of protecting our environment — especially our beaches and coastline — from damage caused by global warming pollution,” said Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown in a prepared statement.
6B5,“Ford should take this opportunity to distinguish itself in a crowded field of auto makers and give us the low emission vehicles that we want to buy,” he said.
The Sierra Club wants consumers to ask auto dealers for the “Freedom Option Package,” a set of low-emission components that can be added to most standard cars, light trucks and SUVs and would enable Ford’s fleet to average 40 miles per gallon while reducing pollution.
“American consumers are demanding more options,” said Professor Robert Gottlieb, Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College, in a prepared statement. “They understand they can make real savings by driving cars and SUVs that get more miles to the gallon.”
“If American automakers want to keep pace with fast-moving foreign competition, they’ll start providing these options,” said Gottlieb, a Santa Monica resident. “And as a result, we’ll help protect the health of people and the environment.”
While Ford CEO Bill Ford Jr. calls himself a “life-long environmentalist” and pledged to lead Ford to sustainability, he also waged an aggressive effort that convinced Congress last spring to reject adopting higher fuel economy standards and he is threatening to sue the state to overturn its global warming laws, according to the Sierra Club.
“Ford should listen to the 81% of Californians who supported the law and demonstrate that they are responsible corporate leaders by making low emission cars,” said Colette Brooks, a Santa Monica businesswoman who bought a fleet of low emission cars for her own company. “We all share a common value and have acted on it. When coupled with the money we save on gas, that’s an incredible return on the investment.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 26, 2002. Read the original PDF.