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Wednesday, August 21, 2002 |
It turns out Pope wasn't misquoted, just partially quoted. The full quote:
"This report takes a giant step in the wrong direction for Ford Motor
Company, for American consumers, and for the environment. It moves the ball backwards by refusing to set firm goals for the future, and raises troubling questions about Ford's commitment to improving its environmental performance."
Which is more on target. Good on Sierra Club, bad on Reuters.
It seems that all too many companies are afraid to set specific, aggressive performance goals, while a few others are both willing to and drive innovation by doing so. (ST MicroElectronics, Novo Nordisk and Honda come to mind, among many others.) Let's face it: the Apollo Mission wouldn't have happened without someone being willing to publicly declare "stretch" goals -- and to risk public failure.
Click here for the entire
Sierra Club press release.
11:51:19 AM 
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Ford -- bad report?
Reuters:
In an annual report released on Tuesday, the world's No. 2 automaker highlights various initiatives it has undertaken to fight global warming, which it calls "the most pressing environmental issue facing our industry and our company."
But in the so-called "Corporate Citizenship" report, Ford concedes that the average fuel economy of the vehicles it sells in the United States has remained essentially flat since 2000....instead of decreasing in line with its commitments as an environmentally-aware "green" company.
"This report takes a giant step in the wrong direction for Ford Motor Co., for American consumers, and for the environment," Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, said in a statement.
The issue is not Ford's reporting -- which is notable for being willing to address Ford's share of global emissions, among other things. The issue is their actions. It may be that Carl was misquoted...
10:15:38 AM
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Global warming = Ice Age? Could be...
The scientists at Woods Hole have some interesting info on their website. It is about the chance that global warming will likely unleash a mini Ice Age within the next 10 years. They (I wish these guys had a "mini Ice Age weblog" we could read in real time as they update things) predict the shift could happen extremely quickly once unleashed.
The mechanism for this is simple. The north pole's ice cap is melting quickly due to global warming. This has created an extremely large pool of fresh water near the ice cap. That pool of water will eventually drift southward. When it does, it will disrupt the gulf stream due a change in the density of the water. Without the gulf stream, the northeast US and Europe will quickly experience a 10 degree drop in temperatures.
This mini Ice Age would be similar to the one we experienced between 1300 and 1850. Remember that picture of Washington crossing the Delaware river? See the ice? That doesn't happen anymore. According to the Wood's Hole scientists, it will again. There is also an outside chance that disruption of the gulf stream could disrupt the entire ocean conveyor system which would impact the rest of the world.
 
[John Robb's Radio Weblog]
7:16:03 AM
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© Copyright 2006 Gil Friend.
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