Fossil fuel coalition is burning out.

• Author: Dunn, Seth
• Position: Brief Article

In a span of less than four months, four major energy and transportation companies and the largest electric utility in the United States dropped out of the Global Climate Coalition (GCC), a Washington-based industry association set up to fight efforts to slow global warming. Between early December 1999 and mid-March 2000, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Texaco, Southern Company, and General Motors (GM) separately announced they had left the coalition. The string of departures could signal the beginning of the end for the powerful lobbying group--which now contains no auto manufacturers and just two oil producers. The departures also raise questions about the future positions of the GCC's former members.

In announcing their withdrawal, companies hinted that their involvement with the GCC and their desire to maintain a positive public image on environmental issues had become irreconcilable. A Ford spokesperson observed that continued GCC membership had become "something of an impediment to pursuing our environmental initiative in a credible way." And a representative of GM said the company's move was part of an effort to adopt "more of a global focus." DaimlerChrysler's president of U.S. operations, citing growing scientific evidence of global warming, announced that "We are at a stage in the climate change debate where we prefer to either speak for ourselves on this issue, or pursue a dialogue on the subject through broader-based business organizations." Texaco--the first large U.S. oil company to leave the group--expressed similar concerns that the company "should speak for itself or through broader-based organizations on the important subject of climate change."

To date, however, none of these firms has attempted to join "broader-based organizations," such as the more progressive International Climate Change Partnership or Pew Center for Global Climate Change. All five appear to be maintaining existing positions independently from the GCC. Ford remains opposed to ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, and GM stated that its dropout "doesn't reflect any...