The registry is linked to the California Climate Action Registry and the Eastern Climate Registry and nearly all U.S. states as well as many Canadian provinces and some Mexican states. By adopting TCR’s program, governments and industry have been able to eliminate a patchwork of different reporting standards that have led to confusion and complexity in the system.
The reasoning behind Ford's willingness to join the registry is to allow it to concentrate on reducing greenhouse gases rather than concerning itself with reporting standards that differ across the world.
The implication of this means Ford will voluntarily measure, verify and report greenhouse gas emissions annually and members of the public will be able to see these figures, meaning Ford will have to make a concentrated effort to reduce greenhouse gases in order to keep public opinion in its favor.
The registry measures not just emissions of Ford's vehicles, but the effects of its production processes to look at how to reduce greenhouse gas creation from a base level, rather than an end-product level.
Hopefully the move should force other carmakers to submit themselves to the same level of scrutiny, although joining the registry is entirely voluntary and unenforceable.
Reader Comments
Tue May 6 2008 8:40 AM
HECTOR says
Ford is known for its monstrous SUVs and huge pick ups. Its best selling vehicle is the F150. And Ford management think that joining some idiotic global warming scaremonger group that tracks how polluting its cars are is a good idea.
Smooth move Gilligan!!
Tue May 6 2008 1:21 PM
MyWheelsOnWalls.com says
Hector- Dont forget the Ford family are socialists through and through and infact their office and factory buildings are built to incredibly green standards. PAG's headquarters in Irvine being a model of how to build green.
Now on the flip side Billy boy is the anti car but very much into keeping the Ford family wealthy. So if you were in his shoes your going to sell what makes you the most profit and that my friend is F150 trucks.
So why does it matter that the Ford family are socialists? Simple, like most socialists they think with the logic of- if your plan involves my money then that is a bad plan but let me spend yours instead to get what I want. In this case lets not spend our money developing cars to promote someone elses agenda but rather can I join your group and give the perception that I care instead for free......
Tue May 6 2008 4:43 PM
chris says
hector; MWOW has it exactly right there. ford has been taking a very green stance in many ways that you wont realize. ford has pioneered non petroleum foams, and has made sure that their factories are some of the greenest in the business. ford owns the largest green roof in the world, over top of the F150 factory in detroit.
on the flip side, they also have catered to exactly what the market wants. thats called good business practice. it was only until recently that the asian brands were marked as foolish for not investing heavily into large vehicles. and until recently, the prius and insight were seen as laughable vehicles.
Tue May 6 2008 8:28 PM
HECTOR says
That's fantastic Chris. I'm sure that I will be asking the manufacturer of my next vehicle how green they are instead of particulars about the second most expensive purchase I will ever make.
And certainly Ford is catering to what the market wants. That must be why their market share continues to slide.
PS - the Prius and insight ARE laughable vehicles.
Wed May 7 2008 12:43 AM
chris says
hector, realize that the majority of the market has moved from wanting the biggest vehicles ever for the last 10 years, to in the last two years wanting the most fuel efficient vehicles. so yes, the japanese brands weren't doing well in that market (where american brands are known for their bigger vehicles) for the last 10 years and now they're doing great because japanese brands are known for their cars.
so yeah, if you dont care about environmental crap, then ever car company is now saying "to hell with that guy".
and yes you're aboslutely right. ford has been speciallizing in large vehicles which up until recently has been the market demand. and now, the market has changed too quickly for anyone to predict.
Mon Jul 28 2008 9:30 PM
George says
Hector, Chris> You both seem to be missing the big picture. Green production techniques (power saving equipment, reducing factory waste to reduce disposal fees, more efficient production lines that use fewer commodities, etc) were rolled out with an eye on long-term savings. Now that the consumer market is demanding green cars, Ford is taking steps to get credit for its green factories. It's actually pretty amazing how little they've spoken out about them in the past since their competitors (ie the Toyota Prius) have huge carbon footprints during production.
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