Ford Motor Co. admitted yesterday that SUVs are bad for the environment because they guzzle more gas, contribute more to global warming, and spew more smog-causing pollution than cars. In the company’s first “corporate citizenship report,” released yesterday at its annual shareholders’ meeting, Ford said it will step up efforts to make its vehicles more eco-friendly. Still, the company’s not ready to put its money where its mouth is. Ford will continue to produce SUVs, its most profitable products, including the hulking Ford Excursion, which weighs as much as two Jeep Grand Cherokees and gets just 10 miles to the gallon in the city. In other auto news, the National Academy of Sciences said yesterday that the U.S. EPA’s computer model for predicting emissions from cars and trucks seriously underestimates pollution and may overestimate the benefits of some pollution-control strategies.
