"Public Citizen" Highlights Toyota’s Anti-Climate

WASHINGTON — Storebrand Asset Management announced yesterday it had divested the company’s holding of Toyota Motor Corporation shares after a “lengthy engagement and the lack of sufficient progress and indications that Toyota would not be likely to achieve expectations” of ending the automaker’s anti-climate lobbying. The asset management company divested its $84 million in holdings after four years of asking Toyota to reform its lobbying practices.

In February, Toyota publicly endorsed a bill introduced by U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno that would repeal the CAFE standards rules, along with virtually every other auto climate protection. The CAFE penalty was eliminated in the reconciliation bill that Toyota donee President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday. In response, Adam Zuckerman, senior clean vehicles campaigner with Public Citizen’s climate program, issued the following statement:

“The world’s largest automaker has spent years building a powerful U.S. influence operation in an effort to roll back policies that protect our communities and planet. The company’s aggressive anti-climate advocacy is souring its brand, making Toyota a toxic asset. As Toyota becomes more and more unabashed in its embrace of Trump and other climate deniers, we expect other funds to follow suit.”