Ford Looks to Lead on Environmental Responsibility
22 April 2000
Earth Day and Environmental Movement Turn 30 DEARBORN, Mich., April 22 As Earth Day celebrates its 30th birthday, Ford
Motor Company continues to build on a growing reputation for environmental
stewardship.
Since assuming leadership of the company at the start of 1999, William C.
Ford Jr., chairman, and Jacques Nasser, president and CEO, have initiated and
overseen a number of industry-leading actions in the area of corporate
responsibility. These actions have touched on every facet of the business,
from product and facilities to corporate policy and community involvement.
One of Ford's foremost guiding principles is to take action that has
significant environmental impact or promise when able, without regard to
government regulation or timetables. And in many areas, Ford has already
raised the bar on the company's performance, voluntarily and ahead of
regulatory requirements.
On a global scale, product is an automaker's most visible and prevalent
impact, and it is with current production that Ford has made some of its most
noteworthy environmental advances.
Since the 1999 model year, all of Ford's Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) and
Windstar minivans have qualified as Low Emission Vehicles (LEV) under federal
guidelines. The company followed that industry first by committing all F-
Series pickup trucks to LEV status starting with the 2000 model year.
"We have publicly committed ourselves to a strategy of 'Cleaner, Safer,
Sooner' because we believe it is the right thing to do," said Nasser. "Once
we have the technology and can take an action in volume to ensure a significant,
positive environmental impact, we will not wait for regulatory timetables.
We will simply act."
Ford has focused on truck emissions because the company is the world's
leading producer of trucks and the high volume production results in a large
air quality benefit. These LEV pickups, minivans and SUVs will emit anywhere
from about 40 percent to more than 50 percent fewer smog-forming emissions
than similar vehicles that do not meet LEV.
Ford's voluntary action with trucks will reduce the amount of smog-forming
pollutants released into the atmosphere by 4,250 tons annually and is equal to
removing the harmful emissions from 350,000 full-size pickups. It would take
the equivalent of 600,000 hybrid-electric vehicles put on the road to match
the benefit of Ford's actions in the year 2000.
In addition to its product actions, Ford has made great strides in its
more than 140 manufacturing facilities around the world. In 1998, Ford became
the first and still only automaker to certify all of its plants under the
international environmental standard ISO 14001. This global standard
regulates and independently audits a facility's environmental actions related
to air, water, chemical handling, and recycling.
Ford's adherence to the standard in all its facilities is saving millions
of dollars in energy, water, material, and waste-handling costs, and has
confirmed the belief that, as well as being the right thing to do, improved
environmental performance can be a competitive advantage and a major business
opportunity.
The company also took the ISO 14001 process a step further in 1999 when it
announced that all Ford suppliers with manufacturing facilities would be
required to meet the international environmental standard by 2003.
Hand-in-hand with Ford's philosophy to have significant impact today
whenever possible are the parallel objectives of pursuing forward-looking
innovations and the breakthrough technologies for tomorrow.
For example, Ford recently launched an entire new brand -- TH!NK Group --
dedicated to the development and marketing of alternative fuel powertrains and
vehicles. Ford is the first automaker to devote an entire brand to
environmental vehicles.
Among the TH!NK Group's offerings will the urban electric runabout car,
TH!NK city; the personal mobility low speed electric vehicle, TH!NK neighbor,
for use primarily in closed communities; and electric bicycles.
As Ford looks further into the future, the internal combustion engine,
which powers the majority of the world's automobiles, will eventually be
replaced by cleaner, more efficient technology. High-mileage hybrid-electric
vehicles will make substantial inroads into the market. Hybrids, which are
powered by a small conventional engine as well as an electric motor, could
represent 20 percent of the market in ten years.
Ford has developed the Ford Prodigy hybrid-electric family-size car that
achieves more than 70 mpg and has already delivered a prototype to the federal
government for real-world testing. The Prodigy is a "no compromise" family
sedan that achieves superior fuel economy and low emissions without
sacrificing performance, roominess, functionality or safety.
Ford also will have the first hybrid-electric SUV for sale in 2003. Based
on the new, compact Ford Escape, it will travel 40 miles-per-gallon in stop-
and-go city driving and achieve a Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle rating,
which should make it the cleanest, most fuel-efficient SUV on the planet when
it is brought to market.
In the 20th century, Henry Ford provided the world with mobility by making
it affordable. For the 21st century, Ford Motor Company intends to continue
providing the world with mobility by making it sustainable.
"I personally believe that sustainability is the most important issue
facing the automotive industry and industry in general in the 21st century,"
said Bill Ford. "We look at it not just as a requirement, but as an
incredible opportunity. Ford wants to be a leader in driving the transition,
and to be in a position to benefit from it."
In the longer term, Ford believes fuel cells will eventually end the 100-
year reign of the internal combustion engine and be the predominant automotive
power source. Fuel cells run on the renewable resource hydrogen. In a pure
hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the only tailpipe emission is water.
Ford is a leader in fuel cell research and development. In 1997, Ford
invested $420 million into a partnership with Ballard Power Systems and DBB.
The goal of the alliance is commercially viable fuel cell vehicles by 2004.
Ford also is a founding partner of the California Fuel Cell Partnership,
which includes auto and energy companies, and state and federal government
agencies. This partnership will have a test fleet of fuel cell vehicles in
operation on the streets of California by the end of this year.
Ford is taking steps to ensure that its corporate policy positions also
are at the forefront of its industry. Last year, Ford left the Global Climate
Coalition (GCC) because membership in that organization was an impediment to
the company's ability to move forward credibly with its environmental agenda.
And just this month, Ford Motor Company joined the Coalition for
Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) and will adopt the CERES
principles as an integral part of the company's standards of conduct. These
standards will include a clear set of business principles and transformational
goals, which will go beyond the requirements of the law to preserve and
protect the environment.
In May, Ford will publish the company's first Corporate Citizenship report
written under the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) Sustainability Reporting
Guidelines. This report will help Ford begin to measure and document the full
spectrum of its impact on the environment, society and the economy, and inform
the company's various stakeholders of Ford's progress on environmental
matters.
Ford Motor Company Fund, the non-profit arm of Ford Motor Company, is
actively involved in the company's pledge to be an environmental leader. The
Fund supports a myriad of programs that promote environmental responsibility
and help maintain the Earth's rich biodiversity.
The company sponsors a variety of community programs and events to
encourage environmental education and stewardship. Ford is the exclusive
sponsor for the first ever TIME magazine global special edition. Entitled
"How to Save the Earth and the Heroes for the Planet Who Are Making it Happen"
is on sale this month and will include two related special issues for
children.
Other ongoing sponsorships include EarthQuest, an environmental exhibit
geared toward children; "Ocean Planet," a cooperative venture with the
Smithsonian; the Ford African Rain Forest at the Atlanta Zoo; and Earth's 911,
the 24-hour public telephone resource providing information on ways to
recycle.
Ford Motor Company is committed to being a leader in the next industrial
revolution -- the Clean Revolution. The company is still far from where it
ultimately needs to be, but Ford and its leadership are committed to a new era
of environmental responsibility.
Ford is working toward a day when all of its facilities, all of its
products and all of its services contribute to a sustainable future. The
company wants to produce automobiles that not only improve individual lives,
but also the world around them. It is an ambitious agenda and one that Ford
considers not only desirable, but also essential to the future.
