WASHINGTON - June 16 - Statement by Dan Becker, Washington Director, Global Warming Program, Sierra Club

U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Gale Norton today received 12 Ford Escape Hybrid SUVs as a gift from Ford Motor Company CEO Bill Ford, who delivered the vehicles personally. We are all for converting the U.S. government fleet to hybrids. But, the Bush administration should not think that it can fool the American people into believing that the acceptance of 12 hybrids represents a sound global warming policy or stop to the assault on our public lands.

The Bush administration can't Escape its responsibility for a negligent global warming policy and hostility towards our public lands by cynically engaging in a public relations stunt featuring 12 hybrid SUVs.

Ford deserves credit for joining the hybrid vehicle race because hybrid vehicles emit less global warming pollution than conventional cars and light trucks. But, with these 12 vehicles, the Bush administration will be preventing a mere 32 tons of carbon dioxide per year from entering the atmosphere; that is 0.00000005% of this year's U.S. heat trapping emissions. This is insignificant for the nation that emits 25% of the world's global warming pollution.

The Bush administration has a history of broken promises and failures to act responsibly on global warming. In March 2001, the Bush administration broke its campaign pledge to cut global warming from power plants. The same month, the Bush administration announced that it was withdrawing the United States from the Kyoto protocol on global warming. In May 2002, the Bush administration weakened existing energy-efficiency standards for air conditioners that would have eliminated the need for 48 additional power plants and the pollution they spew. In an attempt to raise greed and energy profiteering to an art form, the Bush administration has proposed an energy plan that would result in even higher heat-trapping emissions from power plants, vehicles, and industries. In sum, the Bush administration's approach to global warming has ranged from ostrich-like to flat earth.

Additionally, the Bush administration is leading an assault on our public lands and natural heritage. Over the last four years, undesignated wilderness-quality lands are no longer considered for permanent protection; critical habitat for endangered species is no longer preserved; logging roads are pushing into our last virgin forests. Also, millions of acres in Alaska and the Lower 48 have been opened to oil and gas drilling, with millions more turned over to the timber companies under the guise of fire prevention.

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