This document is a December 6, 1999 statement from the Global Climate Coalition regarding the departure of Ford Motor Company from the organization. The industry-funded GCC opposed greenhouse gas regulations through direct engagement and collaboration with affiliated climate deniers from 1989 to 2002. Its membership spanned across the automotive, utility, manufacturing, petroleum, and mining industries.

In this statement, GCC Executive Director Glenn Kelly criticized “misinformation by fringe environmental groups” as the reason for Ford Motor Company’s withdrawal from the coalition while remaining steadfast to the GCC’s core mission:

“While these groups may heat up the rhetoric, our members will continue to aggressively pursue voluntary environmental initiatives and cost-effective new technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We will urge sound scientific answers to many uncertain questions. And, we will continue to promote common-sense solutions that are fair and in the best economic interest of American Workers, families and communities.”

See this Ford compendium on its historical corporate stance on climate change, alluding to the same era it was a GCC member as a time when they “[a]long with energy companies, automakers, and others … questioned the science of climate change.”

Interested in more GCC documents? See more in the full Global Climate Coalition collection.