Global Warming Gift Basket Delivery
The Freedom from Oil team made a special delivery in Sacramento last week at the door of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM), the major lobbying association of the auto industry. Complete with “An Idiot’s Guide to Global Warming”, a copy of An Inconvenient Truth, a life preserver, and a framed picture of the ever-threatened California coastline, the global warming gift basket was presented to AAM lobbyists out of a grave concern that news of catastrophic climate change had somehow not yet reached them.
The gift-bearers reached this conclusion after learning of the AAM’s efforts on the previous day to prevent the State of California from regulating global warming pollution caused by tailpipe emissions. The automakers were the lone dissenters to the proposed law, arguing before the California Environmental Protection Agency last Wednesday. There to show support for the regulations, Mike Brune of RAN was joined by a myriad of interest groups and concerned Californians, ranging from physicians to engineers and scientists.
The basket delivery was preceded by a boisterous rally on the lawn across from the AAM’s office building where the American Lung Association, the Union of Concerned Scientists, Plug In America, and Freedom from Oil teamed up to tell the automakers what they think of the lobbyists’ attempt to destroy the health and habitat of our beautiful state. A large balloon banner, which read “Auto Alliance: Driving Global Warming One Lawsuit at a Time” served as the backdrop for the speakers – a hard message to miss if one were to peer out of the AAM’s top story office window to check out the racket below.
And what was their response? To our great surprise, they had heard of global warming. But they sluffed off our concerns. Apparently the largest car market in the U.S. shouldn’t worry too much about the kinds of vehicles on its roads…until they’re underwater, that is.
5 Responses to “Global Warming Gift Basket Delivery”
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June 5th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
DETROIT HAS HAD 30 YRS TO GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER. EVERYONE I KNOW DRIVES EITHER AN ASIAN HYBRID OR A SNAPPY EUROPEAN SPORTSCAR. DETROIT NO LONGER MAKES CARS PEOPLE WANT. IT’S TIME THEY WENT OUT OF BUSINESS IF THEY REFUSE TO MAKE MORE FUEL EFFICIENT CARS. I SAY GOODBYE AND GOOD RIDENCE!
June 5th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
The US need vehicles with high miles per gallons. If Japan can do this why can
not we. People of states should be able set pollution standards.
June 6th, 2007 at 1:28 am
I like the idea of leaving “An Idiot’s Giude to Global Warming” for the auto manufacturers-only they could be so idiotic as to oppose the control of tailpipe emissions.Climate change is a fact & corporate America needs to take definite & substantive steps to deal with this global problem.
June 6th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
I appreciate the American Lung Association’s participation. We need to show Americans the effect of automobile pollution where it hurts. We should have victims of automobile pollution tell their stories.
We all have a part to play. I am doing my part. I have no children and plan on having one (you can read my post on American Singles, postal code 33809, Lakeland, Florida). How many children do you have? I eat four to six pounds of meat a year. How much do you eat? I drive less than 7,500 miles a year. How much do you drive? I live in a modest home.
President Bush in his 2007 State of the Union address told America we can obtain alcohol from high-yield crops.
When cars are electric we will need power to charge the batteries. People who favor nuclear can show their public support by living next to a nuclear facility. People who favor coal can show their support by standing in line to volunteer when a mine shaft collapses.
After the record hurricanes we experienced recently and the gridlock in Florida, FEMA advised residents to carry extra fuel in their vehicles. I wrote FEMA that a hybrid or electric vehicle consumes no power when it is not moving, little power when it is moving slowly, and actually generates power when it is decelerated.
June 9th, 2007 at 9:30 am
My mom keeps saying that she wants her next car to be a hybrid, built in America, and not an SUV. It’s shocking how few options she has.