Automakers Knew About Climate Change 50 Years Ago

The Energy Gang

In the 1960s, scientists who worked for General Motors and Ford discovered that the exhaust from their cars was very likely changing the climate. They made presentations at conferences. They briefed senior executives. And then, they were publicly contradicted and their work was suppressed.

We’ll talk to Maxine Joselow, the journalist who reported the story for E&E News over many months. She talked with more than two dozen former GM and Ford employees, retired auto industry executives, academics, and environmentalists about what the companies knew about climate change five decades ago.

It leaves the reader wondering: what if automakers had taken the problem more seriously a half-century ago?

Then, plenty of conservative states are embracing renewables. But now 100% clean energy mandates are spreading to redder states. The latest is Arizona: a place where elected officials and a giant utility previously worked to stop the march of clean energy. We’ll look at the shift.

And last: can a Marshall Plan for fading coal communities rebuild America’s former industrial regions?

• E&E News: GM, Ford Knew About Climate Change 50 Years Ago
• Scientific American: A Woman Warned GM about Warming, But Men Didn’t Listen
• Greentech Media: Arizona Regulators Pass Rule for 100% Clean Energy by 2050
• Smart Cities Dive: Mayors Unveil $60B Plan to Support Midwest Energy Transition
• University of Pittsburgh: Marshall Plan for Middle America Roadmap

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