CIPL Clergy/Religious Leaders Sign On Letter to Toyota Motors, PLEASE READ!

Yuki Funo
CEO of Toyota Motor North America

Jim Press
President

Patricia Salas Pineda
Group Vice President and General Counsel of Toyota Motor North America

Dear Toyota Motors:

As representatives from many faith traditions, we ask that Toyota withdraw its lawsuit opposing AB 1493, California’s landmark law to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.

We urge that Toyota, the world’s largest automobile manufacturer, play a leadership role in the greatest moral dilemma of our time: the race to stop the catastrophic damage that is being done to our sacred planet and its citizens by global warming.

Never before in our history has a generation been faced with a challenge of such magnitude and moral consequence as the one before us today.

The scientific debate on global warming is over. The threat is real, and the consequences of inaction could be devastating beyond anything in human history. Rising oceans, monstrous hurricanes and searing heat waves, severe water and crop shortages, global famine and massive population displacement, an end to life on earth as we know it, is what science warns us awaits if we stand idly by and do nothing.

Thankfully, science also tells us that we have not yet reached our global tipping point. There is still a small window of time left in which we can and must act, in which we can and must significantly reduce the causes of global warming, namely, the emission of greenhouse gases.

In California, over 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come directly from the vehicles we drive. AB 1493 simply requires that all auto manufacturers use the most feasible and cost-effective reductions for greenhouse gas emissions for cars and trucks. According to the California Air Resources Board, which is charged with implementing AB 1493, the average consumer will actually save money because of these technology improvements.

But our reason for our appeal is much more than just money. Every major religious faith calls on its believers to be faithful stewards of Creation, the web of life that surrounds us, and binds us to each other and to our planet. We all have a moral responsibility to protect Creation to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for our children and the generations that follow.

As clergy and other religious leaders, we are educating our congregations about the dangers of global warming and our moral responsibility to protect Creation. Here in California, over 450 congregations of all faiths have committed to taking action by joining California Interfaith Power and Light (CIPL). Nationally, we are over 4,000 congregations strong and growing. Every day, more and more people of faith are realizing that we all have a moral responsibility to act now to save our planet.

As the worlds’ largest car manufacturer, Toyota can make a world of difference. Please withdraw from your lawsuit against the citizens of California. Instead of being an impediment to a global solution, we urge you to use your engineers and your technological leadership to be a positive force in solving the moral challenge of our lifetime.


In good faith,

INSERT YOUR SIGNATURE HERE by sending us your

1. Name
2. Religious Affiliation
3. Congregation/Organization
4. City/Region in California

Thank you for all your support! For questions call 510-444-4078 x 319.