GM

Auto manufacturer General Motors (GM) says it is committed to carbon neutrality in both products and operations by 2040, and is on the road to producing all-electric vehicles. And although, so far, only a quarter of its cars are electric, there are still some reasons to take GM’s environmental claims seriously. 

The company has received high scores from the CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project). It has registered a short-term, Paris-aligned climate objective with the Science Based Targets Initiative (although we’d prefer it had long-term net zero objectives in place with SBTi as well). GM also has a Chief Sustainability Officer, indicating that the company is considering its climate and environmental performance at the highest levels of leadership. 

But let’s pump the brakes a second. In 2020, it was revealed that GM scientists knew as early as the 1960s that car emissions contribute to climate change but for decades continued to lobby against strong environmental policies. 

Unfortunately, it appears not much has changed. In the 2022 election cycle, GM’s political action committee donated $369,000 to the campaigns of politicians with the worst environmental track records in Congress, an amount 200 percent higher than the average given to the same cohort by other companies in the UNFK database. (Some of GM’s 94,000 U.S. employees may be interested in knowing this, as 80 percent of their own personal political donations actually went to campaigns for candidates with the _best _environmental records.)

GM also maintains relationships with both the Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable, two lobbying groups that have a long history of fighting against good climate policies. Finally, General Motors hasn’t yet acknowledged environmental justice as part of its overall racial justice stance and As You Sow’s Racial Justice Scorecard indicates that some of its practices have had negative impacts on BIPOC communities. If it’s going to live up to its “Everybody In” slogan, General Motors still has miles to go.