Published on Friday, November 2, 2001 in the New York Times 
Better Cars, Cleaner Air 
by Daniel F. Becker
 
WASHINGTON -- As chairman of the Ford Motor Company, William Clay Ford Jr.
said all the right things about the environment. As its new chief executive
officer, he'll have the power to put his words into action. His challenge is
to prove that an enlightened executive can turn Ford into a responsible
corporate citizen.
Unlike many other corporate executives, Mr. Ford not only recognizes how his
business harms the environment; he admits it and says he wants to fix the
problems. His tenure offers real hope for progress on issues like global
warming.

Because he is chief executive of the country's second-largest automaker, his
statements and decisions have measurable impact on the industry. As chairman,
Mr. Ford pulled the company's head from the sand in December 1999 by quitting
the Global Climate Coalition, a cabal of polluting companies that denied the
scientific research proving global warming. Within four months, General
Motors and DaimlerChrysler also left.

He also pushed the company to publish "corporate citizenship" reports. This
year's acknowledged that Ford's vehicles and factories annually emit 400
million metric tons of carbon dioxide, adding to global warming. This is a
devastating admission, but such corporate honesty is a crucial first step in
educating shareholders about the corporation's environmental impact.

Perhaps most promising is Mr. Ford's aggressive leadership in making the
company's commitment, announced last year, to improve fuel economy in its
S.U.V.'s by 25 percent by 2005. Improving gas mileage is the single biggest
step American automakers can take to curb global warming. Moreover, it will
save American consumers money at the gas pump and reduce the nation's
dependence on oil.

The key test for Mr. Ford, however, is how much he boosts fuel economy across
the entire Ford fleet, not just in S.U.V.'s. Because Ford has failed to
improve the fuel economy of its cars and trucks sufficiently, and because it
now sells a higher proportion of gas-guzzling trucks than it did 17 years
ago, its new vehicles get fewer miles per gallon, on average, than the ones
it built in 1984.

It can do much better. Modern technology for engines, transmissions and
aerodynamics can help Ford achieve an average fuel economy of 40 miles per
gallon for its cars, pickups and S.U.V.'s, saving the United States almost
one million barrels of oil per day — more than half as much as the country
imports from Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, old-school Ford executives have
left this technology sitting on the shelf. Ford's cars currently lack many of
the improvements, like variable valve timing and continuously variable
transmissions, already available on more efficient cars. And Ford's trucks
lack some of the technology already on Ford's cars.

But Mr. Ford, like most executives, resists government intrusion into
corporate decision-making. He has long argued that improvements in fuel
economy should be left to manufacturers and has personally lobbied members of
Congress against efforts to make cars and S.U.V.'s go farther on a gallon of
gas.

Mr. Ford has a compelling economic incentive to implement his vision of
corporate citizenship: If he fails to do so, his company will lose market
share to imports. Both Toyota and Honda are putting clean, gasoline-electric
hybrid cars on the road, and Americans are snapping them up. Today, the
waiting list to buy a 50-mile-per-gallon Toyota Prius is three months.
Japanese automakers aren't just selling cars, they're selling a vision of the
future through modern technology. If Ford doesn't sell that vision, its
shareholders could lose their money and its employees could lose their jobs.

Of course, like any large corporation, Ford has enormous inertia. It can't be
expected to start churning out super-efficient vehicles next Tuesday. But the
clock is ticking. Now more than ever, Americans recognize the need to break
free of our oil dependence. Mr. Ford faces a difficult challenge, and his
instincts are admirable. His leadership could show that it is everyone's
patriotic duty to drive a fuel-efficient car.

Daniel F. Becker is director of the Sierra Club's global warming and energy
program.

Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company

###
 
Sunday November 4 3:37 AM ET
Japan Set to Ratify Kyoto Climate Pact Without U.S.
By Teruaki Ueno

TOKYO (Reuters) - In a rare and bold move that will keep the United States
isolated, Tokyo is preparing to ratify the Kyoto global warming pact even
without the world's biggest economy and polluter, government sources said on
Sunday.

Environment Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi would unveil Tokyo's decision when she
visits Washington on Monday for talks with U.S. officials, the sources said.

``Environment Minister Kawaguchi will try again to persuade the United States
to return to the Kyoto Protocol (news - web sites),'' a Japanese government
source told Reuters. ``But regardless of a U.S. response, the minister will
tell them Japan is preparing to ratify the treaty.''

After conveying Japan's plan to the United States, Kawaguchi will fly to
Marrakesh, Morocco, to attend a U.N.-sponsored ministerial meeting on climate
change which opens on Wednesday.

Japan would try to formally ratify the Kyoto treaty by mid-2002 after
securing parliamentary approval, the source said.

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said on Saturday that Japan would make a final
decision ``on its own'' while trying to ``push'' Washington to come back on
board.

JAPAN IN DELICATE POSITION

Japan has found itself caught between Brussels and Washington over Kyoto, but
with its overarching priority on good ties with the United States, it has
been stalling for time before making a final decision on what to do if the
Americans stay out of the pact.

The United States, the world's top carbon dioxide producer, had signed up to
Kyoto. But President Bush (news - web sites) abandoned Washington's
commitments, saying the pact was ``fatally flawed'' and the goal of cutting
emissions would hurt the U.S. economy.

Under the 1997 Kyoto deal, industrialized nations agreed to cut carbon
dioxide emissions by an average 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by 2012.

Greenhouse gases, which come mainly from burning fossil fuels, are thought to
cause rising temperatures. To come into force, Kyoto must be ratified by 55
countries, or by countries accounting for 55 percent of 1990 greenhouse gas
emissions.

If Japan, Russia, the European Union (news - web sites) (EU) and a number of
Eastern European nations join hands, they would make up the needed 55 percent
even without Washington. The EU nations produce some 24.4 percent, Russia
17.4 and Japan 8.5 percent.

Japan, the world's second-largest economy which holds a swing vote, had been
under persistent pressure from Europe to ratify the Kyoto climate change pact
without Washington.

JAPANESE BUSINESS CAUTIOUS

Fearing that they could lose their competitive edge in the global markets,
Japanese business circles have cautioned against ratifying the Kyoto Protocol
without the United States.

Another Japanese government source said, however, that Tokyo was concerned
that if Japan failed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, Japanese products could be
boycotted in Europe and in other areas that support the climate treaty.

``Consumer boycotting. That is one of the factors Japan has been considering
before making a final decision on the Kyoto Protocol,'' the source said.

The source also said Kawaguchi had no plans to make any new proposal on a
thorny issue involving the rules of the treaty being discussed at the talks
in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Agreeing how to ensure countries meet their targets to reduce the greenhouse
gases blamed for causing climate change has become one of the main stumbling
blocks to progress at the Marrakesh talks.

Officials from some 160 countries are trying to translate into legal language
an agreement their environment ministers reached in July on the rules of the
treaty that will require developed countries to reduce their ``greenhouse gas
emissions.''

  
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