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August 19, 2004
Ford's Folly
A little tidbit I found out about the nastiness in which Ford Motor Company is involved.
In 2001, Ford began leasing the all-electric, super efficient "TH!NK City" cars in order to meet its obligation under the California Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate. The first year they only had 350, but the following year there were thousands on the road, leased to satisfied drivers, mainly in California, because the state offered incentive allowed people to recharge them using their own solar power.
Then in 2003, California postponed its vehicle requirements of the ZEV Mandate until the end of the decade. Ford began taking them back, refusing to allow any of the owners to purchase the cars, and have already begun to confiscate them in order to destroy them.
The Ford Motor Company has been the leader in gas-guzzlers for years. In fact, the Model T automobile got better gas mileage than Ford cars do today. It's obvious that this company, who is ideally poised to usher in a new era of energy conservation, has no interest in the future of the children of today. I'm always shocked that machines on the road are still being sold that have mileage of less than 10 mpg.
Why are they doing it? Because the automotive industry and the petrolium industry are closely tied, and to put vehicles on the road with a self-sustaining (solar) feul source would end our dependance on petroleum. The auto industry is ensuring we maintain that dependence by removing any possibility of non-petroleum energy source coming to the forefront.
What they want to do is make sure that the next energy source is something that can be controlled by a conglomerate. I believe these people are fossils, and ultimately, cannot pull the wool over everyone's eyes for much longer. The president does everything he can to twist things around and shield these industries so that what they're doing is not as apparent as it is.
With respect to bowing to corporate interests, I believe that John Kerry will do virtually no better as president, as he is as much a corporate crony as the worst of the Senate. Fortunately for him, George W. Bush has done such a terrible job in his four years; John Kerry will likely be a shoo-in.
People are getting angrier with the establishment. The raping of our resources and lower and middle classes is becoming more obvious to a greater amount of people with each passing day. This is the information age, and no matter how many ties the petroleum and auto and pharmaceutical industries have to the Fox Network or MSNBC or AOL/Time Warner; we, the people are getting more and more of the truth through other sources.
Bear in mind, all of the automotive industry, domestic and imported, has some guilt. Ford is only the worst of the offenders. But the Ford Motor Company has an opportunity to earn the goodwill of generations to come, to become a harbinger of the future. But these men already bow their wills to their own greed, and destroy their children's future. Ford will be a name relegated to history as a failure of disastrous proportions, having lost and unable to reclaim the public trust.
Maybe you can help make the future different. Send a letter to Ford here:
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Posted by Bastique at August 19, 2004 11:32 AM