When Ford released its new hybrid vehicle last week, some environmental groups jeered. But some, including the Sierra Club and others, adopted the positive reinforcement strategy—noting that Ford needs to do more, but applauding the hybrid as a step toward weaning America off its oil habit. Here, Rickert of the Apollo Alliance, argues the new Ford product shows practices that benefit the environment can also benefit workers.
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Last week, an American company made history. The Ford Motor Company rolled out its first-ever hybrid vehicle—the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV. The release of the Ford Escape marks the first hybrid vehicle made in America for the American consumer market. It is also the first hybrid in the popular small SUV market.
The production of the Ford Escape signals a narrowing divide in the jobs-versus-environment debate. While some environmentalists rightly point out that Ford still has far to go to improve the fuel efficiency of its fleet, the Escape is without a doubt a step in the right direction. And, as the first hybrid vehicle produced by unionized workers in the United States, the Escape proves that investment in a cleaner environment can create good jobs—jobs with family- supporting wages and benefits like health insurance and pensions.
The nation finds itself at the nexus of a number of crises tied to jobs and oil. American workers face the outsourcing of good manufacturing jobs; a persistent gas and oil crisis has resulted in high prices at the pump; the economy's growth has been slowed by both of these. All this comes against the backdrop of a war whose costs mount daily—both in dollars and the lives of American soldiers and contractors.
The Ford Escape represents the kind of investment that will help the American economy balance its growing energy demand with its environmental responsibilities. The Escape Hybrid will achieve 30 to 36 miles per gallon, or more than a 50 percent improvement over the standard Escape. It will also have extremely low emissions, achieving the California Advanced Technology Partially Zero Emission Vehicle (AT-PZEV) standard.
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Come on, you goddamn tree-huggers, buy more of these things so they'll make them better (read-more powerful), and then I'll buy one. As for me, I'm sorry but I'm a relic. I'll give up my V-8 internal combustion engine when they pry it from my cold dead hands. No I'm not an NRA member. Don't worry, I'll be dead soon enough.
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