General Motors on the other hand, is trying really hard to sell their Chevrolet Volt so any support for an association that spreads climate misinformation isn’t good for the American automaker. A recent leak exposed that GM was sending funding towards the Heartland Institute and climate advocacy group, Forecast the Facts, began a petition to ask GM to stop their support.
It didn’t take very long for the petition to get over 20,000 signatures from current GM vehicle owners. And without further ado, GM has announced that they are no longer supporting the Heartland Institute. The decision was reported to the Climate One organization and it said:
“General Motors has decided to discontinue funding of the Heartland Institute, an organization that downplays the risks of climate disruption, three weeks after GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson was asked about it during a Climate One radio interview. GM spokesman Dave Barthmuss confirmed the move today.”
While this probably doesn’t have a huge impact on the Heartland Institute – it is believed that GM’s contributions weren’t significant – it proves that GM is willing to back off support for organizations that their car owners aren’t too keen of.
Now if only they could persuade those tens of thousands of customers to switch to a Volt.