Bob Lutz, GM's Denier-in-Chief, Makes for the Exit

onFeb 9, 2009 @ 22:13 PST

Bob Lutz, don’t let the door bang you in the backside on your way out of the building.

As reported in this excellent post at Solve Climate, General Motors Denier-in-Chief and Vice President for New Product Development is being excused from duty – accepting retirement to make room for Tom Stephens, the executive who has been leading the development of hybrid technology at GM.

Lutz has been GM’s leading dinosaur, the reigning champion of GM’s obsession with the fuel-guzzling muscle cars that helped Toyota become the number one automaker in the world.

If you doubt that Lutz is inflicted with a fantasy gene, check the comments that he wrote on his Fastlane blog under the headline, “You’re not rid of me yet” (he’s actually hanging around in one diminished capacity or another till the end of the year):

“Please note that I relinquish these responsibilities secure in the knowledge that the guiding philosophy of pursuit of absolute product excellence is now firmly embedded in the organization. That unquestionable fact made a very difficult decision much easier for me.

“I feel very comfortable handing over the keys to Tom Stephens, …. Tom will do a great job ensuring the continued excellence of GM’s new cars, trucks and crossovers”

Continued excellence? There seems, in this, no recognition that he is being pushed – or that his company is in such dire straights that Bloomberg actually thinks GM’s prospects would be improved in bankruptcy.

It is, in any case, reassuring to see a changing of the guard at GM, just as in the White House, but you can’t help wonder how much better off the world might have been (and how many jobs General Motors might have saved) if the guys being replaced had not been quite so stubborn in ignoring evidence and courting disaster. There should be a price for such culpability, and you have to hope that Lutz stays at GM just long enough to pay it.

By Richard Littlemore

As War on Iran Continues, a European Climate Law Could Be at Risk

ByEmily Sanders

onMar 25, 2026 @ 11:10 PDT

Industry groups warn of “supply shocks” as energy shortages grow, but critics say targeting the EU’s methane rule would lock in polluting U.S. fossil-fuel infrastructure at a dire cost to local and global communities.

uk/Kemi Badenoch Accepted £7,500 Retreat from Chair of Climate Denial Group

BySam Bright

onMar 24, 2026 @ 11:07 PDT

The Tory leader spent a week at the home of a major party donor.

Series: Defending Democracy from Dirty Money

Series: Defending-UK-Democracy

Climate Disasters Hit Homeowners Through Insurance Bills, and States Want Big Oil to Pay

BySharon Kelly

onMar 24, 2026 @ 08:50 PDT

After surviving a California wildfire, one family saw premiums quadruple — as states consider laws to force fossil fuel companies to pay for the soaring costs of climate catastrophes they helped create.