Forget The U.S. Presidential Inauguration - Here's How Power Is Purchased By The Auto Industry!

2024 was, categorically, the hottest year on record. California's wildfires are raging in the middle of winter and we're about to get a new U.S. President who has stated again and again that he believes Climate Change is a hoax. Here at this channel, we're eager to push for a future that's cleaner, greener, and more equitable for everyone. A future where public transit meets the needs of much of the population, where multi-modal transit is the norm, and where green, renewable energy is available to all, regardless of their income. We look for a future that lifts everyone up to build a better world - not tear people down. And we'd like to think that by driving cleaner, greener, vehicles, we're helping that happen. Except, as a newly-released report from U.S. non-profit Public Citizen details, there's a troubling trend in the auto industry of companies that say they're supportive of green tech plowing hundreds of thousand of dollars into political candidates who want to eradicate environmental protections, push back civil rights and much more. It's time to look into the puppet masters of the automotive world, examine if any automaker is free from involvement with this shady practice (hint: nobody is) - and ask what we, as citizens, can do to make the world a better, more equitable place. Links: * Read the Public Citizen report here: - https://www.citizen.org/article/driving-denial-how-toyotas-unholy-alliance-with-climate-deniers-threatens-climate-progress/ * Research political donations using OpenSecrets.org: https://www.opensecrets.org * Watch Kate's video on ethical consumerism: https://youtu.be/8A-T5JGWyqk * Why YOU Need To Join an EV Group This Year: https://youtu.be/S0eVmTW7E3Q? --- 00:00 - Introduction 01:53 - What we're covering 02:26 - Things are changing 03:52 - Not-so-hidden ulterior motives 04:47 - Conspiracy Theories 05:24 - Supporting climate-change deniers 06:38 - A pay-to-play system 08:29 - The how of donations 09:27 - The importance of context 10:23 - Automaker PAC Contributions - to anti-climate sorts 13:06 - No automaker is clear form blame 14:01 - What Toyota's influence has paid for 16:49 - This isn't just Toyota - it's a wider problem 17:55 - The true horror of money donated 20:04 - You've made it this far... now what? 22:34 - What NOW? 24:10 - The act of changing from passive to active 27:03 - It's OK to not be OK 29:14 - Thanks, and Goodbye! ---- Presenter: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield. Camera, Editor, Colorist: Michael Horton Art and Animation: Erin Carlie Producer: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield Music supplied through Artlist.io © Transport Evolved LLC, 2025 ----- Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC675NhQ4EU5TzwCMwYp5XCw/join This video was made possible thanks to the kind donations of our supporters on Patreon and Ko-fi. Join them in supporting us. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/transportevolved Buy the team a coffee -- or a meal! https://ko-fi.com/transportevolved Donate using bitcoin: BC1QRZRGCCXUKPDZ2DZ9KX9JYJXMZDYHYGFZ0MN4WH Support us by buying some merch at https://www.redbubble.com/people/TransportEVd/shop Follow our 'second' channel - Transport Evolved Take Two, at https://www.youtube.com/transportevolvedtake2 Join our Discord server at https://discord.gg/U3tnkGNfCA Follow the show on Mastodon: https://mastodon.transportevolved.com/ Follow the show on PeerTube: transport_evolved_main@peertube.tv Use the TE Aptera referral code - i.refs.cc/zz56EbIi - but watch our explainer video FIRST: https://youtu.be/mwzwEssgqNI Sing up for EnergySage at https://www.kqzyfj.com/click-101290941-16952262