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Message: If Hummers Can Go Green There Is Hope For The Future Of The Planet For Canadians who cringe whenever they see a massive, carbon-belching Hummer squeezing through the streets of our cities, this news may surprise and delight. It turns out that the designers at General Motors -- who have long seemed bent on self-destruction by producing cars few consumers wanted to buy -- have discovered that the world wants green alternatives. A generation late to be sure but suddenly they've embraced the religion of sustainability. Take a look at their recent proposal for a "green" Hummer. Called the Hummer O2, the car produces oxygen instead of CO2: This fuel-cell powered Hummer would produce oxygen. Agae-filled body panels could break down C02, a greenhouse gas, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. When parked, body panels would fan out to catch more light, speeding the process. The 02 would be constructed from 100-percent post-consumer recycled aluminum. GM and Ford managers have long seemed incapable of responding to consumer demands for fuel-efficiency and reliability. As a result, other car producers in Japan or Germany, for example, where urban density demands a smaller, more economical type of automobile, have stepped in to fill the growing demand for more efficient cars. Jobs in the North American automotive sector are now disappearing as a result of the hubris of their 20th Century management choice to ignore consumer needs and build gas-guzzling beasts like the Hummer. Many in the green sector can take a degree of "I told you so" satisfaction. After all, it did not take too much prescience to see the future on this issue. We have to wonder why companies engage in these self-destructive choices. Is it a matter of short-term thinking? If so, our manufacturing class must learn from the disruptive forces that are changing their sectors and refocus on the future. If they don't, we will risk handing over our economic prosperity to those countries who will. www.corporateknightsforum.com