Toyota’s green reputation has come under fire because of its opposition to a key provision in the Senate energy bill that would significantly improve vehicle fuel economy. The company is siding with the eight automakers that continue to fight stronger mileage rules.
Toyota and the other automakers back the Hill-Terry bill in the House of Representatives that requires cars to average 35 mpg and trucks to get 32 mpg by 2022. The Senate approved a 35 mpg rule for all vehicles by 2020. Nissan and Honda are the only automakers in favor of the Senate bill.Nissan also has committed to a 40% reduction in global warming pollution from their products over the next 10 years, a more aggressive target than the Senate provision.
In a company blog, Toyota Group’s vice president for corporate communications, Irv Miller, defended his company’s lobbying efforts, saying the company supports the Hill-Terry bill because they see it as the only bill that has a chance of passing.
Says the Natural Resources Defense Council, “Toyota has overtaken GM as the world’s largest automaker, so if there’s an automaker that matters most in terms of leadership it’s Toyota.
Says the Union of Concerned Scientists, “Rather than follow Nissan’s example, Toyota is working with Detroit’s Big Three in a misinformation campaign to persuade Congress to drop the Senate’s fuel economy proposal and replace it with a weak, loophole-ridden alternative. Congress should pass the fuel economy provision in the current version of the energy bill into law, not replace it with this anemic alternative. The alternative, called the Hill-Terry bill, sets an extremely weak target and would allow automakers to meet part of that target through loopholes that would not produce actual fuel savings. The Hill-Terry bill would mean more oil dependence, higher annual fuel costs, and more pollution. The Senate provision would cut U.S. oil consumption by 1.2 million barrels a day, 140% more than Hill-Terry. The Senate provision also would save Americans $14 billion more than Hill-Terry, and cut 242% more global warming pollution.
Toyota needs to pick sides. Is it for a cleaner world? Or is it just another polluter, willing to use misinformation to avoid accountability? So far, it seems the company is picking the latter option.
Toyota’s Irv Miller makes two points in his company blog that don’t hold up to analysis.
First, he cherry-picks research from UCS to bolster his argument. He cites Toyota’s improved global warming performance for the 2005 model year, but fails to acknowledge that Toyota has since slipped on environmental performance and fuel economy. According to the latest fuel economy analysis from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Toyota is projected to backslide on truck fuel economy by 0.5 miles per gallon and on domestic car fuel economy by 3 miles per gallon.
Second, Miller repeats the tired line that auto companies can’t comply with the strong fuel economy legislation already in the Senate version of the energy bill. Toyota’s own vehicles, like the Prius, belie these claims. Not to mention that the National Academy of Sciences and other analysts have shown that automakers can use conventional technology to meet those goals.
Group Vice President Josephine Cooper said Toyota wants action. “The more unreachable it is for the industry, the less likely it is anything will pass. You’ve to get enough critical mass to make it happen.’
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