The AP reports that General Motors has emerged from bankrupcy ready to “go green.”
Literally. GM is apparently contemplating changing their logo background from blue to green (image via autoobserver.com). The cynical “greenwash brigader” in me wants to scream, “Greenwash!” Come on, this is the company who brought us such behemoths as the Hummer, the Escalade, and the Suburban.
The problem is, I have a dog in this hunt. I grew up in Michigan and have seen how the state has been ravaged by the American automobile industry’s loss of dominance. They should have seen peak oil coming, and either didn’t or chose to ignore it. But I WANT them to lead again. I hope that this bankruptcy provides the opportunity for them to truly reinvent themselves.
Larry Burns, GM’s VP for R&D, says that he sees a unique opportunity to “reinvent the automobile” and sees the future as a highly-efficient, electrically-driven automobile. Hopefully greenwash is a gateway drug, and GM will go beyond a green logo to become a green company. I wish them luck, and will be watching closely… cynicism held for the moment.
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