The other things Bill Ford said: regret and a national energy policy
Aside from responding to Barack Obama's recent criticism, Bill Ford had a bit more to say about the auto industry yesterday. Here's how two articles described Ford's appearance at a Mackinac City, MI event on Michigan's economy.
First, from Reuters, we learn that Ford regrets his company's slow move towards leading the auto industry in a more environmental direction (no kidding). Two quotes from the article:
"In many parts of the auto industry, I was viewed as some kind of crazy radical. And when I talked about the environment 20 years ago -- or frankly even five years -- many people thought I was eccentric at best or perhaps incredibly naive." AND "We didn't stretch enough in the past few years. I think as we got back into the car business we weren't perhaps bold enough."
Second, from Crain's Detroit Business, we hear that Ford spoke in favor of a national energy policy and that "no one person, company or industry can solve these problems by themselves. The automobile industry is getting a lot of attention in regard to CO2 emissions and global warming. But the fact is cars and trucks contribute about 20 percent of CO2 emissions in the U.S. and 10 percent of the worldwide total. We need to do our part as an industry, but we are only one piece of a much bigger puzzle."
In Ford's mind, this puzzle is solved through "auto and energy companies, utilities, nongovernmental entities, government agencies, universities and others" working together. Bold?
[Source: Reuters, Crain's Detroit Business]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ron Fischer 7:35PM (6/01/2007)
Sadly the problem is not solved by cooperation between large groups of "auto and energy companies, utilities, nongovernmental entities, government agencies, universities and others" working together. That approach creates a muddle which is quickly taken advantage of to delay action.
What's needed are leaders willing to take positive steps forward on their own. California's governor didn't wait for consensus on a low-carbon fuel standard or regulating CO2 emissions. He did it first and invited others to join in.
Automakers, and Bill, don't have a leadership mindset about solving these problems.
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