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GM Exec: Global warming a "crock"

 GM'S BOB LUTZ

The blogosphere is ablaze.  General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz recently was quoted by news services around the world as declaring global warming "a crock of s---."  Perhaps that shouldn't be too much of a surprise -- after all, this is the company that markets the Hummer H2.

But what's odd is that Lutz is now declaring his personal disbelief in global warming to be totally unrelated to his company's marketing of ever bigger and bigger vehicles (which he portrays as a move toward ever more sensitive greenness).

On a GM blog called "Fastlane," Lutz doesn't back down from his assertion that the entire scientific establishment is just flat wrong about climate change.  "An offhand comment I made recently about the concept of global warming seems to have a lot of people heated, and it’s spreading through the Internet like ragweed. But I think that the people making a big deal out of it are missing the real point. My beliefs are mine and I have a right to them," Lutz writes.

He says his personal opinions have nothing to do with his company's dedication to the environment.  "General Motors is dedicated to the removal of cars and trucks from the environmental equation, period....It’s the right thing to do, for us, for you and, yes, for the planet. My goal is to take the automotive industry out of the debate entirely. GM is working on just that... via E85, hybrids, hydrogen and fuel cells, and the electrification of the automobile."

You might notice his use of the words "environmental equation." He's not saying that his SUV's and trucks won't harm the environment -- he's just saying, they won't be part of the "equation" -- like maybe a lobbyist somewhere could just edit out the equals sign out of the sentence: "Hummer + green marketing = zero."

One reader to his blog couldn't understand why consumers would want to buy vehicles promoted as environmentally friendly from a company run by a guy who believes that global warming is not just a matter of debate -- but something to harshly ridicule. "Once again I have to wonder: Why would I want to buy a 'green' car from a man who thinks 'global warming is a crock.' Isn't that like buying a Corvette from a guy who hates fast cars, or buying a pickup truck from someone who thinks only rednecks should drive them?"

But many more folks on the GM website praise Bob Lutz up and down for taking on the environmentalists.  And this raises the question: How green could this company be, if so many GM folks think Bob is a hero for declaring global warming a fiction? "Bob, you rock!" was the typical praise he received on the GM blog. "The new GM is about free spirits, open thinkers and challenging the status quo. GM could not have evolved into the great corporation that it is today without 100 years of encouraging its people to be individuals."

Comments

I think he is right.
I also believe that the algore global warming is a scam of the greatest proportions.
There are a large number of scientists who also believe algore is wrong.
Lots of russian environmental scientists say "global cooling".
Yep, somebody is right.

This dude is ...just trying to make money. I use to joke that global warming was a government conspiracy but its obviously the real deal. Get your s... straight.

Positions such as Lutz's are much easier to understand when one takes into account that 2 out of every 10 people on the planet are certifiably schizophrenic--to some degree. Politicians, CEO's, et al are where they are--a great many of them--because they were missing something human and humane that left them without a vision of empathy, that allowed them to focus on a number on a spreadsheet in lieu of the damage that number represented, and that endowed them with a "look at me" misperception of their importance. The man is simply crazy in the sense of being a socially functioning entity in a world that is sustainable...

I think since the world is 4.9 billion years old. they, being the activist's DON'T KNOW NUTTIN HONEY.

Kudos goes to Bob Lutz for daring to speak his mind on the GW issue. I have not seen or heard anywhere where Mr. Lutz has ever asserted that the entire scientific establishment is wrong on GW. Contrary to current hype, the scientific community is obviously not in agreement that CO2 emissions from autos are having a significant impact on GW. This is simply another example of someone daring to voice a skeptical opinion on GW coming under very biased attack by environmental fanatics. It is a fact that larger vehicles are generally much safer in a collision than smaller more fuel efficient vehicles. I’m trading in my Honda for one of these more practical vehicles.

I think Mr Lutz is probably wrong in his approach, although I believe his sentiment is probably correct. After spending the last couple months researching this subject, I can only say there is plenty of evidence to support both skeptics and alarmists. The trusth is probably somewhere in between. The planet is in a warming trend, CO2 emmissions are up..but the doomsday visions of the alarmists are way out or whack too. Its hard to find an unbiased look at the truth. As for me...I will continue to research and form my own opinion.

The fact that many in the gullible warming crowd can't tolerate something as simple as an opinion should go a long way in telling what their agenda is and what their position is. It tells me what they really want is UN control over governments and people and their position is based on weak science so they have to make up for that by vilifying anybody who doesn't agree. If their science was as good as they try to make it out to be they simply wouldn't need to do that. I am glad at least somebody has the courage to say it like it is and I have to agree with him on it being a crock. Temps are not going up right now, they are going down. "Entire scientific establishment"??? Sorry, but I can't buy that for a second. That looks like propaganda to me. Can you prove me wrong?

I've been looking at all the GW hype for a while now and all I can find is hype they keep on using the same old the sky is falling techniques if one puits garbage into computer models that's what one gets out. The world is running in circles trying to find a cure maybe just stop and take a breath and look at long term historical studies it's all happened before and will again and there is not one damned thing you I or Al Gore can do about it just be glad you don't have to deal with it for too much longer the human life span or the life span of the species for that matter is just a blink of an eye in geologic time

I too have done a tremendous amount of reading on the subject and so far find no correlation that man has any meaningful impact on climate change. I have no problem with his belief, but I do have a problem making cars that get such lousy gas mileage. We learned nothing during the fuel shortage of the 70s. That makes me sick. I also strongly object to the production of ethanol using corn as it is causing feed prices to soar and thus causing our groceries on every level to rise quickly. E85 is a crock since mpg decreases. If there was once again a fuel shortage people that currently could take the train/bus or carpool would have to and thus reduce our consumption of oil. There are so many options available that might not be a complete substitution for oil, but could slowly reduce our dependency.

There's a typo in the title - an added R. Global temperature is the phallus of the eco-fascists which they have used to stuff all kinds of rubbish down our throats - is there any natural disaster they haven't assigned to GW including earthquakes and volanoes?

Well with 2007 being the coldest year this centry (Hadcrut3 metoffice data) and the 21st century now showing clear cooling, that eco-fascist phallus is now broke, it is deflating, and beginning to look much more like the turkey giblets it was all along!

I am really worried about global warming that I almost cried

Mr Lutz, you have a right to believe anything you want. However, we also have a right to not buy your cars. And we won't - ever again. Have fun.

This article is fairly ridiculous. Yes Bob Lutz has a right to his own opinion about something like global warming (I personally believe it is a natural effect and humans have played little part in the very slight warming of the earth which is currently taking place). However, I am strongly against pollution, dependence on foreign energy sources, damaging the environment, and wasting money. So does that make me "green" or not? I'm against the current theories of global warming, but I am all for alternative and clean fuel sources for automobiles and for the entire country (and world for that matter).

Therefore, Bob's one line comment doesn't really mean anything about even his overall personal opinions about such things, much less how he runs GM. For people who want to complain about Hummer H2's, don't buy one! Why is GM more guilty for selling this car than all the people who buy them? But if you are concerned about GM's "greenness", try to find out more answers. If they work to provide a cleaner car, it doesn't really matter if it for the cause of global warming, or just for profit, who cares?

Why do I believe as I do about global warming? Because I can go out an measure (or in really bad cases just see) what the level of pollution in a city is. I can measure how much money I am losing by spending it on gasoline rather than electricity. I can see how much land is taken away from animals who need it. However, it will be much, much more difficult for me to measure the temperatures of the entire globe, and then compare that to the temperatures of the entire globe for the past few thousand years. Then I need to see what caused that, how quickly the change took place, how it affected wildlife, sea levels, desertification, etc, etc, etc.

Please do not jump on people for their personal beliefs. You can disagree, you can debate, but please think about it first, and please be mature about it always. Thank you.

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Rona KobellRona Kobell reports on the Chesapeake Bay, and in her seven years with The Sun, she's visited clam farms in Virginia, a peeler pen on Taylors Island and a small market on Smith Island that serves what many people consider the best crab cake in the world (to judge for yourself, head to the Drum Point Market in Tylerton). Rona enjoys hanging out with her husband and daughter.

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