Jim Hightower

Ford Motor Company executives say they are going to make environmentally-sustainable, fuel-efficient, green cars! Again.

Not "again" in the sense that they've actually been making green cars, but that they're saying yet again that they intend to do it. You might recall that Ford honchos pledged earlier to improve the fuel economy of its SUVs by 25 percent. Didn't happen. Then, three years ago, Ford excitedly announced that it would soon be selling a quarter million hybrid-electric vehicles a year. Less than a year later, Ford reneged.

Still, give new Ford CEO Alan Mulally credit for enthusiasm and optimism when he promised the day after Earth Day that he would lead a companywide campaign to create a greener Ford. "It's about sustainability," he chirped. "It's about mobility. It's about safety. It's about [being] stewards of our environment."

Great, Alan. And many of us would add: It's about time!

Whether he comes through or not, at least Mulally finally broke the auto industry's code of silence on the issue of climate change. "I clearly believe the vast majority of data indicates that the [globe's] temperature has increased. And I believe the correlation and analysis that it's mainly because of greenhouse gases." Okay, Alan, welcome to the long parade of people and groups that have been trying for years to get Detroit's attention about its emissions of global warming pollutants.

However, not everyone is sanguine about Mulally's first step. To oversee the new green Ford program, he appointed an in-house executive who has testified in congress against steps to limit auto emissions. Also, when asked about Ford's previous failures to follow through on its environmental promises, Mulally cheerfully said, "You can't take away our intent."

This is Jim Hightower saying... Isn't the road to hell paved with... Oh, never mind. Let's give the guy a chance – and thank him for at least speaking out.