If you’re ever wondered why clean energy progress in the U.S. is taking so long, look no further than the dialog (more like a diatribe actually) going on between General Motors and environmental activists.

Six weeks ago General Motors launched the GMnext community site which includes information and discussions on GM’s efforts with respect to renewable energy technology. Some time after the launch the new GM site was inundated with comments criticizing GM’s efforts with respect to clean energy and accusing the company of greenwashing. Greenwashing is the word used these days to indicate someone who delivers a clean (or green) energy message without actually taking real action.

General Motors took action to manage their community with respect to the environmental activists on their site. In the mean time GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is quoted as calling the global warming issue a “total crock” during an invite only meeting with journalists at the end of January. Needless to say the response to Mr. Lutz’s comments has been robust.

Mr. Lutz has defended himself on GM’s own FastLane blog by stating, “My beliefs are mine and I have a right to them, just as you have a right to yours. But among my strongest beliefs is that my job is to do what makes the most business sense for GM.” Lutz has been the champion within GM for the Chevy Volt electric car and has promised that he will get it into dealers in 2010.

In the meantime the Rainforest Action Network went to work on the GMnext site posting a flood of “not nice” comments directed at General Motors and their employees. As a result GM shut down comments to several of the posts (including this one) on the GMNext site. GM followed up with an online discussion with GM partner Coskata about ethanol powered vehicles.

It’s almost hard to believe that this dizzying series of events has occurred in just the past few weeks. Unfortunately what we’re seeing here is typical of a lot of the discourse that occurs in the U.S. with respect to clean energy. On one side you have activists who are angry and jaded because corporations haven’t done more to address environmental issues. On the other side you have huge corporations attempting to change, but sometimes they are undermined by outspoken executives who inject more rhetoric into the conversation.

If we want to accomplish anything meaningful with respect to clean energy in the United States then clearer heads need to prevail. Some environmental activists refuse to believe that U.S. auto companies will really change their technologies to support clean energy. So they react with completely negative commentary when an opportunity like the GMnext site appears. On the other hand Bob Lutz felt he was exercising his right to speak his mind when he called global warming a crock.

Both sides are to blame on this issue. Some environmental activists practice an angry, all-or-nothing brand of activism that does nothing to move clean energy causes forward. That certainly seems to be the case here. Mr. Lutz should know better because as a top officer of a firm like GM any comments he makes will likely be attributed to the company in some way.

Mr. Lutz has reiterated that GM is committed to developing clean technologies when he stated, “General Motors is dedicated to the removal of cars and trucks from the environmental equation, period. And, believe it or don’t: So am I!”

Let’s get on with it then. Both sides need to give a little in order for this movement to work. Words and actions should be measured so that the maximum amount of effort goes to solving problems instead of fighting over comments on blog posts.

Use the player below to listen to an interview from the For Immediate Release podcast. In the interview representatives from General Motors present their side of the story with respect to the GMnext greenwashing controversy.