• by Karl Greenberg , March 25, 2010

It may be the strangest automotive event to roll down the pike perhaps since former DaimlerChrysler executive Dieter Zetsche walked onstage in a dress at the Detroit Auto Show some years back.

Lexus will launch its CT 200h compact hybrid at the New York International Auto Show next week with a panel discussion about global warming. The moderator will be comedienne and star of the eponymous Comedy Central show, "The Sarah Silverman Program."

Silverman will moderate a debate between journalist Amanda Little, author of Power Trip and Phelim McAleer, director and producer of "Not Evil Just Wrong" and a global-warming skeptic.

David Nordstrom, Lexus VP marketing, says the event, "The Dark Side of Green," is intended to embody the bifurcated appeal Lexus hopes the vehicle has. "Lexus hybrid vehicles have been designed to appeal to both the eco-minded and those unwilling to compromise on luxury and style," he said in a statement.

Lexus offered up a quote from Silverman about why she wanted to do the deal: "I like the idea that a big schmancy company like Lexus is willing to engage in an unpredictable debate."

Little's book is an examination of the use of fossil fuels, and renewable energy technologies in the United States. Irish journalist and filmmaker Phelim McAleer's documentary explores what he views as the negative impacts of green policy, and questions scientific claims made by prominent global warming proponents.