Senior Executive Speech, Fortune 100 Company
Good morning. Thanks for the nice welcome.
I’m honored to be speaking to you today, and not just because of the importance of this conference and the excellent turnout that Great Lakes, IPU and The Engineering Society has delivered.
When I was challenged with the task of heading up Ford Land last January, I figured my career couldn’t get much better. But when my telephone rang last week—just 9 months after that promotion, mind you—and I was asked to try to fill Bill Ford’s shoes as the keynote speaker this morning, it felt as if I’d been promoted all over again. (Pause, smile)
Bill couldn’t be here today, but if he were, I believe I know what he would say to you about renewable energy and its critical importance to the sustainability of our way of life. I believe this for the same reason that I hope brought you to this conference: Because at Ford Motor Company, we realize we need to be unified and clear on our commitment to the potential of clean, renewable energy and the technology that makes it viable.
Chairman Ford is on record in both word and deed as a life-long environmentalist. He’s dedicated to the ideal that the company that bears his name must stand for something more than the world’s best automobile company.
Bill Ford believes that the blue oval that bears his family’s name needs to also represent the global family of man. He would tell you that the corporate citizenship of Ford Motor Company has to be reflected in practical, meaningful action, because our Earth’s resources are too precious to waste.
There’s no better place to start talking about how to ensure against that waste than right here, with you. You are the decision makers, the opinion shapers, and the flag bearers in a battle to integrate new energy technology into a system that currently embraces the status quo. And make no mistake, we’re in a battle, and it’s being fought on many fronts.
Ford Motor Company bought 655 million dollars’ worth of energy last year just for production processes, and about 481 million of that was in North America. I think it’s safe to say that as one of the largest consumers of energy in the United States, we’re paying prices for electricity and gas that are as close to the bone as the current market will allow…