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Most of us now understand that pollution from cars causes global warming. So, we also know that driving cleaner cars – like Toyota’s low-emission, 48 miles-per-gallon (mpg) Prius hybrid – means less global warming pollution. Unfortunately, the overall truth about Toyota is, well, inconvenient. The carbon footprint of Toyota’s overall car fleet remains dinosaur-esque, and their lobbyists are working to kill national legislation that would force them to stop selling their gas guzzlers by 2020. Toyota’s opposition to the proposed 35 mpg standard has left many of its loyal, green-minded customers feeling surprised and betrayed: “To hear all of a sudden that they’re lobbying against the higher [gas mileage] standards makes me nuts. What are they thinking?” asked Mark Gamba, a Prius-owning Oregonian. [1] Meanwhile, competitors like Nissan support the new standards.
Lobbying against fuel economy Also, two major auto trade associations of which Toyota is a member – the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers – are suing to stop California's new law to reduce global warming pollution. Finally, Toyota has opposed “clean cars” legislation in multiple states. In addition to requiring that cars emit less pollution, including global warming gases, clean cars legislation requires that a percentage of cars sold within the state be low- or zero-emission vehicles. In the fall of 2007 Toyota also launched a series of green TV advertisements. USA Today wrote the following description: “[the ads feature] a mud-hut Prius being assembled out of twigs, earth and grass by a group of rugged campers. Against a moody mountain backdrop, the Prius slowly disintegrates back into the land, while an announcer says, ‘Can a car company grow in harmony with the environment? Why not? At Toyota, we're not only working toward cars with zero emissions.’” All told, Toyota spent nearly $3.1 billion worldwide in 2006 (nearly $2 billion in the US) marketing its products and overall image.[3] On top of that, Toyota and its trade associations spent at least $7.7 million lobbying elected officials in Washington, DC.[4] Corporate snapshot To date, Toyota has sold more than 1 million fuel-saving hybrid vehicles worldwide and accounts for 78% of hybrid sales in the US.[6] However, hybrid sales only tell a small part of their story: Toyota's current, fleet-wide fuel efficiency is lower today than it was a couple decades ago, thanks to their continued reliance on selling gas guzzlers like their 14 mpg Tundra pickup.[7] Meanwhile, according to Congressman Ed Markey (MA), "Toyota meets higher fuel-economy standards in Japan than they say we want them to meet here in 13 years [by 2020]. It's almost as if they're not going to make any improvements in 13 years," Markey says.[8] Several national and state environmental groups have launched a coordinated campaign to expose and pressure Toyota, including Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), League of Conservation Voters (LCV), US PIRG, Environment California, Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), and Friends of the Earth. The coalition’s “Truth About Toyota” website was launched to coordinate these efforts: http://www.truthabouttoyota.com/facts.html. The site also provides a forum for the public to get involved. [1] Learn, Scott. “Stuck in some green mud.” The Oregonian, October 12, 2007.
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