GM and BlueGreen Alliance to Collaborate on Creating Clean, Green Jobs

Collaboration is key to our environmental progress at GM. Whether it’s hosting a conference to share best practices on waste reduction with other companies or even forging new alliances with competitors to develop the next generation of clean energy technologies, we have learned first-hand how partnerships can help create a more sustainable world.

Last week General Motors joined the Corporate Advisory Council of the BlueGreen Alliance, a diverse coalition of business leaders, environmental organizations and labor unions committed to working together to advance policies that will help create a cleaner and more competitive American economy.

We strive to be a part of the solution to the various sustainability challenges our world faces. By joining this council, we’ll provide our perspective, hear other ideas and identify pathways to sustaining a vibrant economy that helps an entire industry and its customers reduce their carbon footprint. After all, manufacturing fuel-efficient vehicles that people want to drive produces many economic and environmental benefits.

David Foster, executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance, understands the potential of strong partnerships with the manufacturing sector.

“The auto industry has demonstrated that measures to address our biggest environmental challenges — like raising our fuel efficiency standards — lead to innovation, economic growth, and job creation,” he said. “We couldn’t be happier to have General Motors at the table working with us to figure out the best ways to simultaneously improve sustainability and create good jobs.”

The BlueGreen Alliance’s Corporate Advisory Council was formed in 2009 to give voice to the broad support in the corporate community for BlueGreen Alliance’s mission. It brings together companies – large and small – with some of America’s largest labor unions and environmental organizations to work on joint projects that advance job creation and environmental performance.

We believe great companies use their strength to lead, set an example and solve issues. Earlier this year, our chairman, Dan Akerson, called on the Obama administration to develop a cohesive, consumer-driven national energy policy. We were also the first automaker and industrial manufacturer to sign the Climate Declaration, a statement from Ceres and its Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy coalition that states addressing climate change is good for business.

We all have a stake in the environment, and as corporate citizens we have a responsibility to operate as efficiently as possible to reduce our impact. By partnering with other global industry leaders, we can start to chisel away at the challenges we face and continue building a more sustainable future.

Visit www.gmsustainability.com to learn more about our long-term approach to sustainability.it was