Toyota on wrong side of Oregon auto emissions fight

Toyota, how could you? My wife and I own a 2004 Prius, and we’re on the waiting list for a 2006 Highlander Hybrid.

Now we feel betrayed. For Toyota is a member of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which is supporting a lawsuit to stop Governor Kulongoski from adopting tougher California-style vehicle emission standards.

We’d believed that Toyota was an auto manufacturer with Green credentials. Yet here Toyota is, a member of the Auto Alliance along with GM, Ford, and six other manufacturers. Honda and Nissan aren’t part of the alliance, nor is Volvo.

So part of me wants to make a statement by hanging onto our 1999 Volvo XC wagon and not replacing it with a Highlander Hybrid until Toyota shows that its commitment to fighting pollution and global warming isn’t just lip service.

It’s strange. In today’s New York Times I read that “Toyota Says It Plans Eventually to Offer an All-Hybrid Fleet.” Thus it seems incongruous that Toyota is fighting tougher auto emissions standards, since hybrids are the cleanest cars on the road.

In the interest of blogging exactitude, I’m assuming that the “automotive industry” mentioned in the Salem Statesman-Journal article as having joined Republican legislators in filing the lawsuit against Kulongoski is the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a.k.a. Auto Alliance. I couldn’t find a news article that offered more details about who the “automobile industry” really is.

I suspect the Auto Alliance doesn’t want their specific manufacturers named for fear of a Green consumer backlash. Hoping that such will indeed occur, here are the names of those who say “don’t cut auto emissions:” BMW Group, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen.

That the Auto Alliance is behind the lawsuit seems to be a reasonable assumption given this “Automaker Lobbyists Seek to Keep Oregon Autos Polluting” page on the Union of Concerned Scientists website.

On the bright side, the Clean Cars for Oregon coalition is working to get the stronger emissions standards approved. They’ve got some Take Action suggestions.

I’m probably going to cut Toyota some slack and keep our name on the Highlander Hybrid waiting list. I think their hybrid heart basically is in the right place, even if their political lobbying is misdirected.

I urge you to email Toyota and let them know what you think about the Auto Alliance effort to derail stronger auto emission standards in Oregon.

Comments

[A. Chernack]

I own a Prius 2005 for less then a month now and love it.
The CA law has Toyota extend their warranty to I think it's 10 years and 150,000 miles instead of 8 years and 120,000 miles. If I were a manufacturer, I would fight for the shorter warranty also as it could cost me more money. From purely a business point of view, I don't blame them.

[Jerry]

Think about it, Toyota already makes more of the most environmentally friendly vehicles then any other manufacturer. The fact they don't promote the environmentalist agenda is understandable. The environmentalists never consider a balance between technology and profitability. Profitability is not their concern even when employment is compromised.