GM faces critics in online 'greenwash' debate
Wed 06 February 2008
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A website set up by General Motors as a discussion forum on future automotive technologies to celebrate the company's 100th anniversary received a bombardment from environmental critics of the company.
The Financial Times reported that Brent Dewar, GM's vice-president for North American field sales and service, took questions by email from campaigners and journalists on the subject of "corporate greenwashing".
Protestors posted photographs of demonstrators calling on the industry at the Detroit motor show to take steps to fight climate change and to create more environmentally friendly jobs. The company closed the interactive pages of the site saying it did not want to "lose control" of the site after it said some had used the forum as a 'soapbox' .
In addition to the online web chat, GM set up up interviews between bloggers and senior executives at car shows across the United States. The moves were welcomed by green groups and GM's crtics as a positive first step.
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