Toyota out of the Chamber of Commerce? Plug in America calls out the troops
The Yes Men were in the news recently for a hoax that put the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's lame position on climate change under the spotlight. This week, Move On and Plug In America are pushing an online campaign to get Toyota to stop funding the Chamber's anti-climate lobbying. The campaign resulted in a large gallery on Flickr that shows Toyota customers calling on the automaker "to stop opposing clean energy" and asks people to write letters to the editor. Plug In America president Dan Davids said in a statement that:
In response, Toyota issued a release to, as they put it, "set the record straight." The gist is that Toyota's participation in various groups does not mean it gives full-throated endorsement to everything those groups do. Josephine Cooper, VP for public policy and government/industry affairs said:Toyota has already proven that it can make an excellent electric car. It should be leading the charge to a truly sustainable electric transportation future with plug-in cars. Instead, it's dragging its feet.
Read both statements in full after the jump.Toyota speaks for itself and has its own position on mitigating climate change, backed up by a strong track record of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. [...] We will not disappoint when it comes time to deliver.
[Source: Toyota, Plug In America]
PRESS RELEASE:
PLUG IN AMERICA URGES TOYOTA TO QUIT U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Advocacy Group Calls on Supporters to Join Protest
Plug In America is calling on its supporters to join the growing chorus urging Toyota to quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and to stop obstructing efforts to combat climate change.
"Plug In America is asking Toyota to stop opposing clean energy by aligning with the retrograde Chamber and to commit immediately to putting a plug-in vehicle into showrooms," said Plug In America President Dan Davids.
Toyota has not announced delivery of a plug-in vehicle, only that it will launch a three-year test program for a plug-in hybrid car later this year. Other major automakers including GM and Nissan have announced delivery of plug-in vehicles starting in late 2010 (details in Plug In America's Plug-In Vehicle Tracker). Tesla Motors has sold consumers some 900 all-electric sports cars now on the road.
The pace of Toyota's plug-in development puts the company at risk of "being seen as a technology and environmental laggard," Roland Hwang, transportation program director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the New York Times last week.
Plug In America supporters are joining in the second phase of MoveOn.org's campaign urging the auto company to drop its affiliation with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This phase involves writing letters to newspaper editors nationwide. Some of the electric-car organization's board members and supporters took part in the campaign's initial action by posting on MoveOn's photo gallery photographs of their own Toyotas.
Many of these cars are all-electric RAV4 EVs that Toyota manufactured from 1997 to 2003, some of which have been driven more than 100,000 miles with virtually no repairs or maintenance.
"Toyota has already proven that it can make an excellent electric car," Davids said. "It should be leading the charge to a truly sustainable electric transportation future with plug-in cars. Instead, it's dragging its feet."
About Plug In America: Plug In America is leading the nation's plug-in vehicle movement. The nonprofit organization works to accelerate the shift to plug-in vehicles powered by clean, affordable, domestic electricity to reduce our nation's dependence on petroleum and improve the global environment. For more information: http://www.pluginamerica.org.
TOYOTA'S RESPONSE:
Toyota Supports Economy-Wide Reductions of Greenhouse Gases
Recently, you may have seen some reports or emails critical of Toyota's membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in light of the Chamber's position on reducing greenhouse gases. We want to set the record straight.
Toyota is a member of a wide array of groups, but none has our full proxy. Our association with any one of them does not signify that we agree with all of their policies. It means we are there to have a dialogue and engage in making good public policy. Toyota speaks for itself and has its own position on mitigating climate change, backed up by a strong track record of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
As the record shows, Toyota has long supported global economy-wide reductions of greenhouse gases, and we are committed to working cooperatively with the U.S. and other governments to achieve these reductions in every market where we operate. That is why Toyota Motor Sales President Jim Lentz stood with President Obama at the White House last May in support of a national program to reduce greenhouse gases from vehicles. We will not disappoint when it comes time to deliver.
In fact, we have not waited for government legislation or regulation to address these issues. We are the leader in fuel efficient vehicles in the U.S. We are the leader in hybrid technology, and are making major investments to develop and bring to market even more advanced hybrids, plug-in hybrids, pure electrics and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. And, we've already cut CO2 emissions and energy use from our manufacturing plants on a per-vehicle basis by 19% since 2000.
Our actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions speak for themselves, and we are focused on moving ahead with real-world solutions.
Josephine S. Cooper
Group Vice President, Public Policy and Government/Industry Affairs
Toyota Motor North America
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
OpenMinded Patriot 11:18AM (10/23/2009)
"We will not disappoint when the time comes to deliver."
That time is Now, Toyota.
You say you "stood with President Obama", if you stand with President Obama then you stand for strong climate change action. The Chamber stands for inaction. The chamber is strong arming for the status quo.
The time to deliver is now.
It's time for Toyota to deliver leadership.
It's time to take the marketing message of the Prius ad campaign to board room, it's time to make the marketing image a real image.
Folks - wright a letter to the editor - spam your friends - urge Toyota to take a leadership role by pulling out of the Chamber of Commerce.
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pickles 11:21AM (10/23/2009)
Hey Marc (in the above shot)- I've been a fan of yours in The City for years.. right on. Keep up the fight. Still got that amazing Citroen? The EV was a brilliant model that should still be sold today. Period.
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andrichrose 11:40AM (10/23/2009)
I notice that TOYOTA 's response makes no reference to
the RAV4 electric , bet they are wishing they had crushed
all of them now !
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Chris M 2:45PM (10/23/2009)
Toyota sold most of the RAV4EVs they made, most are still on the road, so don't blame Toyota. Instead, blame GM for crushing all EV1s (except for a few museum pieces) and Honda for crushing all their EV+.
Tohe 8:10PM (10/23/2009)
@Chris M
Politics reside in the present. Right now GM is not a threat to climate change legislation. Lobbying groups and their sponsors are the threat. So, if you want to get somewhere with your criticism then direct it where it is due.
Laurens 12:03PM (10/23/2009)
EV's are household appliances. To walk the dog. No emotion. It will end mankind. Then, who needs us ;-)
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jake 12:42PM (10/23/2009)
Tesla Roadster :P
Laurens 1:12PM (10/23/2009)
Exactly. Womankind: "oh, it sounds just like my vacuum-cleaner" :-)
polo 1:17PM (10/23/2009)
"EV's are household appliances. To walk the dog. No emotion. It will end mankind."
lemme guess.
You're car is how you got and keep your wife/girlfriend, [deleted for inappropriate content]
Laurens 1:32PM (10/23/2009)
Ah, a honest environmentalist: "girls like all that talk about how I'm saving the planet ;-)".
I rather cycle to stay in shape...
Dan 1:01PM (10/23/2009)
Tesla Model S :P'''''''''''''''''''
(I'm drooling)
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MistaKleen 2:15PM (10/23/2009)
Dude,
Nobody's opposing clean energy. There is opposition to the fabrication of AGW (global warming by man.) Big difference. Lots of support for clean energy. Lots of good reasons. CO2 ain't one of 'em,
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wincros 2:25PM (10/23/2009)
You should publish your scientific findings. Since virtually all scientific studies support the view that CO2 is the cause of global warming, many would welcome the opportunity to duplicate your findings.
Mark Kiernan 2:52PM (10/23/2009)
*facepalm*
I assume that you represent a large group of scientists who have been working on this subject for many years and you yourself hold at least a PHD in climate science to make that statement?
No? You got your info from Fox News and Glen Beck?
The deniers are an insult to scientific method and knowledge, they are lead by either people who have a vested interest in making sure that climate change is not tackled (ExxonMobile comes to mind) or home-schooled anti-science right wing nutjobs, who just hate the environment because Al Gore is involved.
polo 3:51PM (10/23/2009)
MistaKleen, actual scientific projections say the middle of the US (where the majority of our food supply comes from) will become one giant PERMANENT dustbowl in 50 years, and Europe will get enough rain to make India during the monsoons like dry. There is a clear link between the rise of CO2 in the air and these effects. The only people who are arguing against this are super-rich old people who know they won't live to see the effects of global warming, and the people who bought their propaganda.
I don't want to assume anything though...maybe you aren't a rich old fart...and aren't a gullible 'tard....maybe you just want to see what it looks like living out a Hollywood disaster movie where mass starvation, mass emigration (out of the US), and international chaos is the news of the day.
Boyprodigy1 5:16PM (10/23/2009)
You know guys, Even if Mistakleen doesn't support green energy for the sake of the environment, he is just one of those guys we can satisfy by saying that it is a matter of national security that we become energy independent, even though that is probably the least of all of the reasons.
Mark Kiernan 2:54PM (10/23/2009)
@wincros
He would probably present the bible as his source.
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Paul 4:48PM (10/23/2009)
Thank god for the Chamber of commerce. I can't believe people still believe in that climate change propaganda. I call them Climate Changers. It's just an excuse for the communists to socialize America and tax the poor for their big government plans. Cap n trade will be shifted to the poor. Just like the inflation our government is causing by printing money for their big government plans. You guys are ruining our country with your Doom and Gloom scenarios. Your worse than the Christians. The only reason I support energy solutions is so we can get our selves off of foreign energy caused by communist environmentalists that lobbied our government against the American people and put us in this situation. Well have a nice day. I won't be back to read your bs responses.
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Mark Kiernan 6:05PM (10/23/2009)
So you are more intelligent and informed than, the people below, you have have studied more, you have more research done and you have come to the conclusion due to your own scientific method. You are as ass, you know that.
European Academy of Sciences and Arts
InterAcademy Council
International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences
Network of African Science Academies
Royal Society of New Zealand
National Research Council (US)
American Association for the Advancement of Science
European Science Foundation
Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies
American Geophysical Union
European Federation of Geologists
European Geosciences Union
Geological Society of America
Geological Society of Australia
International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics
National Association of Geoscience Teachers
Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London
American Meteorological Society
Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences
Royal Meteorological Society (UK)
American Quaternary Association
International Union for Quaternary Research
I am sorry I can't quote them all, you can find more here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_opinion_on_climate_change
I know you are reading this. But you really should stop getting your information from Glenn Beck, he doesn't have a PHD.
Andy 1:24AM (10/25/2009)
Take a comfortable existence. Pepper it with a sprinkle of vested interest and people will believe whatever they want to believe.