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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
1.15.2008 - 09:00am ET
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Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car Launch Customer Carbon Offset Program
Industry-leading initiatiave could reach 20-25 million renters; Customers' optional offset purchases will be matched up to $1 million
(CSRwire) ST. LOUIS, MO - January 15, 2008 – Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car
Rental and Alamo Rent A Car today launched their industry's largest
customer carbon offset program. Designed to give customers a simple but
meaningful way to address the environmental impact of renting a car, the
program is the first consumer initiative to be launched under all three
brands.
Enterprise, National and Alamo are owned by the Taylor family of St.
Louis. Collectively, the Taylors own and operate the world's largest
automotive fleet, employing more than 1.1 million vehicles. Under this
new program, customers of all three rental car brands can benefit the
environment by offsetting the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated by
the average car rental.
When reserving a car through the company's call-in reservation centers or
online, customers can opt in to pay $1.25 per rental (plus applicable
taxes) to purchase a carbon offset. Under this new program, in
partnership with TerraPass, a leading provider of carbon offsets, the
funds will be used to purchase certified offset projects that work to
remove CO2 from the atmosphere. According to TerraPass, for every 100,000
customers who choose to take part, this effort will offset more than 30
million pounds – or 13,500 metric tons – of CO2.
In the pilot phase of the program, which began on January 1, 2008, the
company reported that across all three brands, approximately 1,000
customers per day agreed to buy carbon offsets when reserving a vehicle.
Enterprise customer David Washer of Wenatchee, Wash., was among the first
to select the offset option when reserving a vehicle. "I support companies
that contribute to cleaner air and the environment, and I think it's
excellent that Enterprise is offering this to their customers," Washer
said. "I think the more that individual companies can do to help the
environment, the better off my kids will be in the future."
Million Dollar Match
What's more, the company has committed to double the effort with a
dollar-for-dollar match of its customers' offset purchases up to $1
million. The company estimates that if all of the renters reached by the
program opted in, their offset purchases, plus the matching funds, could
offset approximately half the carbon produced by the combined Enterprise,
National and Alamo fleets.
"We are hoping for an enthusiastic response – nothing would please us
more than to use up our entire $1 million match," said Andy Taylor,
chairman and chief executive officer of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, whose
family last year purchased the National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car
businesses. "Our customers want to make sustainable choices whenever they
can. We are pleased they now have that choice when renting a car.
"We know that the future success of our business requires us to have an
abundant supply of vehicles and the fuel to power them," said Taylor.
"And both the vehicles and fuel must remain acceptable to society. In a
very real way, this is all about sustaining our business for the long term
by sustaining the parts of the world we touch with our business."
"We are proud to join with Enterprise, National and Alamo to bring
consumers one more way to reduce their environmental impacts, and at the
same time support new clean energy initiatives," said Erik Blachford,
chief executive officer of TerraPass. "For the Taylor family, this offset
program is just one part of a thoughtful and comprehensive environmental
platform that we are pleased to be a part of."
The $1.25 offset charge represents the cost of offsetting the CO2 impact
of the average rental vehicle operating in the company's fleet. TerraPass
calculated the dollar amount, based on the average vehicle fuel economy (28
highway mpg), miles driven per rental (71 miles per day), and number of
days per rental over the past year for the combined Enterprise, National
and Alamo North American fleet. (Total offsets purchased will vary, based
on factors such as the current market rates for the offsets.)
Customers can quickly and easily purchase their carbon offsets while
booking their reservations through call-in reservation centers or online
at www.enterprise.com, www.nationalcar.com,
or www.alamo.com. The
dollar-for-dollar match will be made from the company's charitable
foundation, and will support additional TerraPass carbon offsetting
projects purchased through Sustainable Travel International. The program
is being offered at participating locations in the U.S. and Canada; it
will be extended to Enterprise's European customers later this year.
"We think it's quite significant that when the Enterprise, National and
Alamo brands join forces for the first time on a consumer initiative, it
is to launch an effort that will benefit the environment," said Patrick
Farrell, the company's vice president, corporate responsibility and
communications. "This is just one more indication of our commitment to
running our business for the long term, in a sustainable and responsible
way."
The carbon offset program is the newest plank in a broad sustainability
platform that includes:
The world's largest fleet of fuel-efficient vehicles - More
than 440,000 cars in the combined Enterprise, National and Alamo worldwide
fleet average a highway fuel efficiency rating of at least 28 mpg or
better, and more than 237,000 average 32 mpg or better. In addition,
264,000 have earned the U.S. EPA's SmartWay certification
mark – a distinction the EPA grants to vehicles that emit relatively low
levels of both regulated pollutants and greenhouse gases such as CO2.
Embracing new, clean technologies – Enterprise, National and
Alamo also operate the world's largest fleet of FlexFuel vehicles – more
than 73,000 cars and trucks that have the ability to burn E85, a blend of
85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. In addition, they own about
4,000 gas/electric hybrid vehicles. Nationally, the company is actively
deploying as many of its FlexFuel vehicles as possible near E85 fueling
stations in order to build consumer awareness and increase the number of
cars being fueled with E85, which according to the U.S. EPA can reduce
greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 20 percent.
Research – In 2007, the Taylor family gave $25 million to
create the Institute for Renewable Fuels at the Donald Danforth Plant
Science Center, one of the world's foremost plant research centers. The
institute works to develop acceptable alternatives to finite fossil fuels
by finding new ways to create fuel from renewable, reliable plant
sources.
Conservation – The company's charitable foundation is funding
the planting of 50 million trees over the next 50 years at a total cost of
$50 million through the 50 Million Tree Pledge, a
public/private/non-profit partnership with The National Arbor Day
Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service. The trees are being planted on
public lands in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Recently, the Taylor family
and the company's foundation also donated $100,000 to the Everglades
Foundation in the state of Florida to help restore and protect this
invaluable, but endangered, ecosystem.
All told, over the past several years the Taylor family and their company
have contributed or pledged more than $120 million to environmental
initiatives. For more information about the full environmental platform,
visit www.keystogreen.com.
"Across all the elements of our environmental sustainability platform, we
are focusing on responsibly addressing those areas where our business has
an impact on the world around it," said Farrell. “Now we're excited to
invite our customers to join us. We're not presuming to offer a total
solution, but we believe we’re taking solid steps in the right
direction."
The Taylor Family of St. Louis owns and operates the Enterprise, National
and Alamo businesses, which include a worldwide network of more than 8,000
neighborhood-based and airport car rental locations.
About Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Founded in 1957, Enterprise Rent-A-Car is headquartered in St. Louis and
serves customers in the United States, Canada, the U.K., Ireland and
Germany. Enterprise is North America's largest car rental company in fleet
size, number of locations and annual revenue, ranking No. 21 on the Forbes
Top 500 Private Companies in America. Enterprise has ranked highest in
customer satisfaction among airport rentals in eight out of the past nine
years, according to J.D. Power and Associates Rental Car Satisfaction
StudySM. For more information about Enterprise, visit www.enterprise.com.
About National Car Rental
National Car Rental, an internationally recognized brand that targets the
daily rental needs of the airport business customer, has locations
throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Latin
America, Asia and the Pacific Rim. For more information about National,
visit www.nationalcar.com.
About Alamo Rent A Car
Alamo Rent A Car, an internationally recognized brand that services the
most popular travel destinations for the leisure airport customer, has
locations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean,
Latin America, Asia and the Pacific Rim. For more information about
Alamo, including the Best Rate Guarantee, visit www.alamo.com.
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