This week Ford became the first automaker to assess and report its climate change impacts. Since Ford has the worst per-vehicle greenhouse gas emissions, a report is a fine first step. Ford calls for a ‘precautionary and prudent’ approach, and has clearly thought through its climate responsibility. That’s the good news.

Of course, it’s not the end of the story. Ford’s report is strong on analysis, and includes actions taken and soon-to-be taken, yet remarkably short on targets and timetables. Even guarded praise from CERES calls for strong policy leadership alongside the report for Ford to move into the ‘clean energy economy’. And that is the real issue with Ford’s position on climate change right now: rather than work with lawmakers to meet citizen-led climate change initiatives, Ford has been lobbying to undo them. As I write this post, Ford is part of a lawsuit to block eleven states from implementing a visionary law that limits global warming pollution from new vehicles.

Ford argues in an appendix to the report that it can’t work with a patchwork of states requiring different emissions standards. Ironically, this issue doesn’t deter Ford from operating in 200 markets around the world with the widely varied regulations, or from meeting emissions reduction targets in countries that have signed the Kyoto protocol.  Ford is suing California and the other states, saying that only the US government has a right to regulate global warming emissions because reductions would primarily mean increased fuel efficiency. Meanwhile, Ford is lobbying in Washington to keep the US from being more fuel-efficient. That’s why a coalition including RAN, Global Exchange, Bluewater Network, Sierra Club, and USPIRG are running ads this holiday season.

Ford’s got a good team working on the issue of climate change. But when it comes to government policies, Ford lobbies and litigates rather than advances a vision to match the innovative work done in this report.
And Ford says that this won’t be the last we’ll hear on the subject of climate change.

Here’s my holiday wish for Ford:  Drop the lawsuit. Commit to meet the best industry practices to reduce global warming pollution in every state in the nation. And make sure that the next generation of Ford customers can choose from a fleet of zero emission vehicles.