According to JUST Capital, it’s the most responsible automotive manufacturer.
JUST Capital releases an annual ranking of America’s largest publicly traded companies. If you wonder what makes this report so unique, it ranks companies based on sound business practices, including positive relationships with workers, customers, communities, the environment, and shareholders.
The 2022 rankings of America’s most JUST companies were released in January, and Ford was the only automotive manufacturer in the top 20. General Motors landed in 30th place, and that’s it as far as automotive manufacturers are concerned.
Ford earned this spot following extensive polling by JUST Capital, and now it’s in the spotlight again following Earth Day. The abridged version is that Just is looking at the various industry leaders to see what kind of action they’re taking.
Since the announcement of the 2022 rankings, much has happened. The UN’s research branch found that if emissions continue at the current rate, global warming will increase by more than twice the 1.5 degrees Celsius (over 34 degrees Fahrenheit) initially set in the Paris Agreement.
President Trump famously withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement in late 2020 to protect the American automobile industry. Shortly after he was elected president, Joe Biden joined the Paris Agreement again and set a goal to cut emissions by half by 2030.
US companies are now under extreme pressure to disclose their environmental impacts. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wants a federal climate disclosure, and JUST’s polling suggests that 86 percent of Americans across the political spectrum favor this move.
Since Ford is the automotive leader when it comes to JUST’s causes, it now finds itself in the position of setting an example. So, what exactly is Ford doing?
According to JUST, Ford is on target to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius target and uses the highest percentage of renewable energy within the automotive industry. That’s 10 percent of its electricity use at the moment. Ford also recycles 90 percent of the waste it generates, and naturally, its expansion within the EV segment deserves a mention with models like the Mustang Mach-E.
It’s one of very few automotive manufacturers to offer an EV pickup truck, which is by far the biggest segment in the USA. The F-150 Lightning finally goes on sale later this week, though pre-orders have been open for quite some time. An earlier study found that the Lightning is also much cheaper to run than a more traditional ICE F-150.
