General Motors…Green?

Joel Makower posted an entry titled “Can General Motors Save the Planet?” on his blog a few days ago.  He writes about GM’s new initiative that was just announced last week to invest $40 million in carbon offsets with an aim to offset 80 million tons of carbon emissions.  This is roughly equivalent to the level of carbon emissions of the 1.9 million Chevrolets they expect to sell in 2011.

I always appreciate every effort that is made towards a more sustainable planet.  My only concern for GM is that they could receive more public backlash(anyone remember their huge bailout?) if they don’t execute this well.  If they are able to accurately track the amount of carbon that is being offset, then I think that they should not have a problem.  However, during a time when everyone is concerned with greenwashing, GM should make all efforts to ensure that they aren’t painted with that same brush.  I know that their Chevy Volt has been receiving some great reviews so that may not be as big an issue, but one can never underestimate consumer skepticism.

I’m looking foward to seeing their updates on how they’re doing with this project.  I hope that it also prompts other auto-makers to come up with creative ways to tackle environmental issues.

If you’re interested in learning more, Chevy has a website dedicated to this project: