Global Warming Denier Bob Lutz Continues Making General Motors Look Ridiculous

Despite their laudable corporate policy on environmental issues, General Motors has a really hard time getting their message on global warming right. Last night on 60 Minutes, Bob Lutz continued his efforts to turn General Motors' commitment to the environment into a bad joke.

First, we learned that Lutz has a massive carbon footprint. Owning a helicopter and a jet is bad enough, but two of each is unheard of.

Speaking about his own personal carbon footprint, Lutz acknowledges he and his wife own two helicopters and two jets.

Leslie Stahl then moved closer to the issue we all want to hear about:

"You have a terrible reputation with environmentalists, as you well know.

Amazingly, Lutz denies this:

"Well, actually some of them like me but go ahead...," Lutz replies.

Show me an environmentalist that "likes" Bob Lutz and I'll show you a gullible fool. Seriously, I'd love to know who he is talking about. Maybe Tom Wilkinson will be kind enough to stop by and shed some light on this, because I'm not buying it.

In the following exchange, Leslie Stahl offered Bob Lutz a golden opportunity to apologize for his backwards remarks of the past. He refused to do so.

"Well they don't like what you said about global warming," Stahl says. "Do you want to repeat what you said about global warming?"

"Of course not, because this is a family network," Lutz says.

"You don't think there's global warming? Is that really true?" Stahl asks.

"I'm not going to get into this. Because...," Lutz replies.

"Because you got into so much trouble when you said it the first time?" Stahl asks.

"That could be right. Yeah," Lutz admits.

It is clear that, as A. Siegel likes to say, Lutz is still a Putz. He still thinks global warming is a crock of shit. He is now just staying quiet about it to avoid a public backlash.

Newsflash to General Motors: This is not good enough. If you want consumers to take you seriously as a 21st century automobile manufacturer, you can't have a global warming denier as your most visible corporate spokesman. Prove to us that you take climate change seriously, and we will take you seriously. It is that simple.

Here is the video of Lutz' 'performance' on 60 Minutes. It is worth watching the whole thing, to see an interview with Elon Musk of Tesla Motors.

Follow Josh Nelson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/josh_nelson

Comments

[Mike Bonifer - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for the post, Josh. I think Lutz portrayed precisely the role Lesley Stahl had in mind for him when she shot her story. The story presented a stark contrast between Silicon Valley's way of doing business and Detroit's, as represented by Lutz.

http://www.gamechangers.com/index.html/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=546

[TomWilkinsonatGM]

Cheaper will definitely be better, and we are confident the cost will come down as companies like GM and Tesla get more familiar with the technology and production volumes start to go up. But as with any new technology, there is a cost of getting up the learning curve. My first PC (actually a CPM machine) cost more than $2000 in the mid 1980s, and had a tiny fraction of the capability of today's $1000 laptop.

Also, keep in mind that the cost-per-mile with electricity is much less than with a comparable gasoline car, so that will help bring down overall cost to drive the vehicle.

This is precisely the reason we also need to keep pushing to make conventional vehicles more efficient. Inexpensive electric vehicles won't happen overnight.

[KillTheMessenger]

Mr. Wilkinson, did anybody ever tell you that a PC back then was some twenty orders of magnitude away from the physical limits of computing? And we still have more than a dozen left to go before we hit the crossroads of thermodynamics and quantum mechanics.

So there is plenty of space to grow in computing. It's roughly at the stage where manned spaceflight was when somebody invented the wheel.

Now, how many orders of magnitude is automobile design away from the most efficient car physically possible? One? Maybe one and then some. Maybe.

Before you make an outrageous claim about efficiency increase like you just did, please ask a scientists or engineer if it makes actual sense.

[TomWilkinsonatGM]

We're not talking orders of magnitude here. The complaint is that these initial electric vehicles might be twice the price people would like to pay. But the issue is still the same -- technology 1.0 is always more expensive and less proven than subsequent generations.

[realpolitic]

Mr. Wilkinson, since you repeatedly say that anthropogengic warming is a politically correct idea and therefore dismissable, why not explain to us your and Lutz's idea of where the warming is coming from? Why not get in on the table and move on from there, instead of engaging in this shadow boxing with science that you insist on? And please offer something more than a statement that it is helpful to reach beyond the established consensus. Scientists fought hard against political opportunists and energy companies to establish that consensus and still are! What are your scientific reasons for your casual approach to an established scientific consensus?

[TomWilkinsonatGM]

The issue here is not Bob's personal opinions, or his personal carbon footprint, or his teeth. Nor is it about Elon Musk's personal opinions, or his personal carbon footprint (I hear he loves really big rockets -- that can't be good), or his haircut.

The question is, what are companies like Tesla and GM doing to create a new generation of cleaner, more efficient vehicles.

If you must be 100% politically correct to work on these vehicles, we're toast. Because creating the products that might make a difference will require the Lutzes and Musks of the world, along with millions of nameless engineers and entrepreurs, few of whom would pass muster with the PC squad.

[Josh Nelson - Huffpost Blogger]

The issue here is that GM's main spokesman likes to go on television and made absurd and dangerous statements.

GM can do better. And they are going to have to if they want to keep up in the 21st century.

[realpolitic]

GM is a fossilized dinosaur of a company that has by the statements of Mr. Wilkinson a sort of 19th century industrial arrogance. They do not realize that science proceeds without them. Their undefended statements dismissing science illustrate why they are light years behind Sillicon Valley and the Japanese automobile manufacturers. GM is a decade behind every trend in automobile manufacturing. Good riddance to a once great company!!

[Semaj51]

The real issue here is that neither GM or Tesia have plans to produce realistic vehicles to reduce overall carbon footprints. The vehicles being developed/proposed by both companies are simply too expensive for the average family to afford. What good is there having the Tesla or the Volt if only a few is being produced? For a quicker change-over, an electric powered vehicle which is $20,000 or less is needed.

[KillTheMessenger]

I think your problem is that you have somebody running around who single-handedly negates all the positive projections of your advertisement and public relations departments. And that, simply speaking, is a sign of gross mismanagement.

[realpolitic]

Every time Wilkinson comes on this site he loses customers for GM, if they had any left. Wilkinson says: "If you must be 100% politically correct to work on these vehicles, we're toast." Respecting science has little to do with being PC. This statement is an example of the arrogance and poor marketing at GM. I do not care about Mr. Lutz's teeth either. But ask Mr. Lutz or Mr. Wilkinson to discuss any studies that attribute warming to activies other than that caused by man. If not for us, where is the warming coming from? And scientists insist if it had to do with the sun we would be in a period of cooling now. Wilkinson and Lutz should go back to the lab and produce an energy car and keep their sophomoric opinions to themselves. Meanwhile, the taxpayers will continue to bail out their fossilized company with billions of dollars. What arrogance!!

[Josh Nelson - Huffpost Blogger]

Folks, this is not about his teeth.

Please refrain from posting childish comments.

[KillTheMessenger]

Why is it not about teeth? Because people are so dumbstruck by the comments of that gentlemen that they don't know what else to say than to talk about his physical appearance?

I mean, come on, there is no intellectual value here to discuss. So one might as well make fun of the man. And he won't care anyway. His ego could shield the USS Enterprise against an attack of the complete Romulan fleet with enough energy left over to throw a Borg cube into subspace.

[krocklin]

As General Motors goes, so goes America.

Yeah.His teeth!!!

[JScott]

I noticed too his bad teeth, jeez with all the $ he makes he couldn't afford a dentist.
And take all he sez with a grain of salt one only needs to look at their product line (with very few exceptions) to see why GM is in the crapper. All their best stuff is built overseas (and don't give me the bs about enviro, safety and gov't reg's they have those in those other countries too), like the Middle East Chevrolet Caprice, Holden Commodore (our Pontiac G8), their Opels, but of course we don't get these here we just get crappy gas guzzling SUV's and crappy passenger cars.

[TomWilkinsonatGM]

Like Josh, I encourage people to watch the whole clip and, if you want to learn more about what GM is doing about these issues, to visit GMnext.com.

As for yet again rehashing the issue of what Bob Lutz does or does not believe, I will refer readers back to Josh's earlier posts and the subsequent discussions there.

[Josh Nelson - Huffpost Blogger]

Tom, you have still failed to answer my question from our previous conversations.

GM needs to answer this question:

Does GM subscribe to the fact that humans have played a role in increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere? Do you believe that this is the view held by an overwhelming majority of scientists?

If your answer is no, can you point out credible claims to the contrary?

If your answer is yes, why do you provide a platform for, and defend, someone who disagrees with an overwhelming majority of scientists?

[realpolitic]

Exactly, excellent question and it is the one I had!! When Wilinson and Lutz casually dismiss science they are speaking for the entire company as its representatives.

[KillTheMessenger]

Oh, please, Mr. Wilkinson, please spare me the whining. You can't even answer honest questions without being snapped back by the leash of your corporate law team.

[realpolitic]

Who cares what Lutz does or does not believe, besides his unsupportable statements on climate change? If not man made, let him support his position with evidence! He should stay out of the news and develop an energy efficient car. He is unimportant!

[leftcoastindy]

I couldn't get past his teeth. He's probably got a $100 million stashed away, and he can't do something about his discusting smile?

[KillTheMessenger]

His self image is prettier than any supermodel. He does not need to work on his exterior.