Sierra Club: Is Selling Ford Selling Out? [1]
Submitted by John Stauber [2] on
Readers of the Sierra Club [3]'s magazine know it runs glossy full-page ads from car companies selling hybrids. Now the Sierra Club is also mobilizing its members and launching a marketing campaign [4] to help Ford [5] peddle its latest SUV the Mercury Mariner [6], which has a reported fuel efficiency of 33 city, 29 highway miles per gallon. Has the Sierra Club's love of hybrids devolved to greenwashing [7] Ford? The Club's Dan Becker says [8], "If we can work with Ford to make their Mercury Hybrid a hit, Ford will be convinced that you can make money and make a vehicle that's clean." But Rainforest Action Network [9] (RAN) director Michael Brune counters in the New York Times [10], "It's a nice gesture, but we think it's more PR than progress." With the PR firm Fenton Communications [11], RAN and Global Exchange are cranking up [12] their Jump Start Ford campaign [13], shaming Ford for having the worst fuel efficiency of any major car company.