dan akerson common wealth club

by Sebastian Blanco, AutoBlogGreen, March 9, 2012

Looks like the petition from Forecast the Facts calling on GM to stop giving money to the Heartland Institute, a major player in climate change denialism, is having an effect. GM hasn't promised to end its funding of the Institute's School Reform News publication, which is dedicated to covering news about things like charter schools and vouchers, but GM CEO Dan Akerson recently told the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco that he is a believer in global warming and that he is committed to "taking another look at" the money that GM gives to Heartland.

The GM-Heartland connection came to light when internal Heartland documents were leaked by the Pacific Institute's Peter Gleick. From them, we learned that the General Motors Foundation (GM's charitable arm) made a $15,000 donation in 2011. In San Francisco, Forecast the Facts spurred the Commonwealth Club to ask Akerson about the connection through Facebook and in-person activism.

In response, Daniel Souweine, the director of Forecast the Facts issued a statement that said:
We are encouraged that CEO Dan Akerson has committed to review GM's funding of the Heartland Institute. We hope that review leads to the result that more than 10,000 GM owners have been asking for: a public commitment by GM to stop funding Heartland immediately.
You can see a video of the Q&A after the jump. Akerson jokes about his underwear, so it's worth watching just for that.