While Toyota is on target to handily meet the 6%-under-1990 CO2 emissions-reduction standard called for by the Kyoto Protocol, other Japanese manufacturers, including giants like Matsushita are having trouble. Plus, Toyota's green motoring credentials seem impeccable, what with the popsicles-in-Death Valley sales rate of the Prius, but in actuality, that that Kyoto-hugging reduction number is for Japan only.
In fact, Toyota released 500,000 more tons of CO2 into the atmosphere last year than it did in 2001. By that criteria alone, we feel that Toyota's hyper-green stance is a bit of a sham, but one only needs to look at the company's new truck plant in San Antonio to see where the company feels like its current slice of bread is buttered.
Toyota: Greener Cars and Factories [BusinessWeek]
Related:
Toyota Draws Fire from Enviro Group for Power Hybrids [Internal]