Electric Vehicle Parade and BBQ: Saturday Jan 22nd

From: Sarah Connolly
Sent: Thu 1/20/2005 6:53 PM
To: Sarah Connolly
Subject: EV Parade and BBQ: Saturday Jan 22nd


Join Dave, Heather, and Bill for an Electric Vehicle Parade and Barbeque this Saturday!!

Ford has agreed to sell the electric Ford rangers to all current lease holders! We are waiting for a formal, public commitment from the automaker and will continue the vigil until that time.

In the meantime, please come join us in Sacramento on Saturday to honor all those who participated in this historic vigil and to demand that Ford revive its Electric Vehicle Program and help break America's Oil Addiction!

WHEN: Electric Vehicle Parade Starts at 12 noon
BBQ 1:30-3:30pm

WHERE: Parade starts at the Vigil Site on Basler st, just off 16th street, outside Downtown Ford.
BBQ at Cesar Chavez Park at the corner of I St and 12th.

WHY: Honor those who have camped in the back of the Rangers for 8 days....Demonstrate that EV
technology is both viable and popular....Call on Ford to to revive its EV program.

WHAT: Clowns, Balloons, Banners, Tofu Dogs & Much Much More!

***FREE LUNCH FOR ANYONE WHO SUPPORTS ZERO EMISSION VEHICLES!!!***

Sponsored by: Global Exchange, Rainforest Action Network, and the San Francisco Electric Vehicle Association

Background on the Vigil:

On January 14, 2005, Ford electric vehicle (EV) drivers, climate protection advocates, healthcare professionals, solar energy experts and human rights and peace activists began an ‘EV vigil’ in Sacramento to protest Ford Motor Company’s confiscation and destruction of its all-electric, zero-emission Ranger pickup trucks. Inspired by civil rights sit-ins and powered by a 5,000-watt mobile solar array, citizens for clean cars buckled-in for an extended ‘car sit.’ EV drivers Dave and Heather Bernikoff-Raboy, Bill Korthoff and supporters were resisting the repossession of their Ford Ranger EVs and demand that Ford keep its original promise to sell the petroleum-free, pollution-free pickups to loyal California lessees.

After 7 days of the vigil, Ford gave into statewide public outcry and made an abrupt U-turn. In a conversation with Jumpstart Ford coalition partners Global Exchange and Rainforest Action Network, Niel Golightly, Ford’s director of sustainable business strategies, agreed that the auto giant would keep its original promise to sell the pollution-free pickup trucks to loyal lessees.

Ford Fights Progress:

The Ranger EV controversy is the latest in Ford’s ongoing assault on federal and state efforts to improve emissions standards and implement fuel efficiency market incentives like California’s progressive new law allowing carpool lane access to hybrids that achieve at least 45 miles per gallon, a standard that not one Ford model meets. In late 2004, Ford supported the filing of a federal lawsuit to overturn California’s popular new vehicle emissions standards, the nation’s first-ever rules to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions linked to global warming and the most advanced automotive GHG reduction targets in the world.

Just a few months ago international public pressure convinced Ford to resell its other EV, the Th!nk City cars. Originally Ford planned to scrap both the Th!nk EVs and the Ranger EVs, but thanks to concerned activists in California and Norway, Ford's Th!nk EVs are now on their way to Norway to be resold to customers on Ford's waiting list.

America’s Most Oil Addicted Automaker:

“Automaker Rankings 2004,” a recent report from the Union of Concerned Scientists, ranks Ford as having “the absolute worst heat-trapping gas emissions performance of all the Big Six automakers.” According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the overall average fuel efficiency of Ford's fleet today is 18.8 mpg, dead last among the major automakers for the fifth consecutive year. Since the oil crisis of the 1970s, Ford has ranked worst in overall fuel efficiency of all major automakers for 20 out of the last 30 years. From subcompacts to SUVs, Ford's current car and truck fleet gets fewer miles per gallon on average today than its Model-T did 80 years ago. Ford's widely touted 'eco-friendly' Rouge River plant features a water-preserving green roof, yet manufactures 280,000 gas-guzzling F-150s a year, each truck generating up to 100 tons of atmospheric carbon over its lifetime. Marketed as “the first American hybrid,” Ford's so-called 'no compromise' Escape represents less than one half of one percent of its fleet and will have virtually no impact on its last place fuel efficiency ranking. On September 2, 2004, Niel Golightly, director of environmental strategies for Ford Motor Company, told USA Today, “Clearly, the entire industry could build nothing but zero emissions cars today if it wanted to.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release:
Thursday, January 20, 2005

Contact:
Paul West, Rainforest Action Network, (415) 398-4404 x319, media [at] jumpstartford.com

Ford Agrees To Sell Electric Pickup Trucks
Abrupt U-Turn Comes After 7-Day Vigil

San Francisco – As a Sacramento ‘car-sit’ enters day seven, Ford Motor Company has committed to reverse its unpopular decision to repossess and destroy its last zero emission Ranger EVs. Ford’s abrupt u-turn follows a statewide public outcry that forced it to recant misleading misstatements about the legality, popularity and viability of EV technology.

In a conversation late this afternoon with Jumpstart Ford coalition partners Global Exchange and Rainforest Action Network, Niel Golightly, Ford’s director of sustainable business strategies, agreed that the auto giant would keep its original promise to sell the pollution-free pickup trucks to loyal lessees. Ranger EV drivers Dave and Heather Bernikoff-Raboy, Bill Korthof and their supporters intend to remain in vigil at the downtown Sacramento dealer until Ford formally follows through.

The EV community and Jumpstart Ford coalition will hold an EV parade this Saturday in Sacramento to call on Ford to revive its entire EV program and immediately implement existing technology to improve its longstanding last place EPA ranking and end its addiction to oil.

Ford fights progress

The Ranger EV controversy is the latest in Ford’s ongoing assault on federal and state efforts to improve emissions standards and implement fuel efficiency market incentives like California’s progressive new law allowing carpool lane access to hybrids that achieve at least 45 miles per gallon, a standard that not one Ford model meets. In late 2004, Ford supported the filing of a federal lawsuit to overturn California’s popular new vehicle emissions standards, the nation’s first-ever rules to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions linked to global warming and the most advanced automotive GHG reduction targets in the world.

America’s most oil addicted automaker

“Automaker Rankings 2004,” a recent report from the Union of Concerned Scientists, ranks Ford as having “the absolute worst heat-trapping gas emissions performance of all the Big Six automakers.” According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the overall average fuel efficiency of Ford's fleet today is 18.8 mpg, dead last among the major automakers for the fifth consecutive year. Since the oil crisis of the 1970s, Ford has ranked worst in overall fuel efficiency of all major automakers for 20 out of the last 30 years. From subcompacts to SUVs, Ford's current car and truck fleet gets fewer miles per gallon on average today than its Model-T did 80 years ago. Ford's widely touted 'eco-friendly' Rouge River plant features a water-preserving green roof, yet manufactures 280,000 gas-guzzling F-150s a year, each truck generating up to 100 tons of atmospheric carbon over its lifetime. Marketed as “the first American hybrid,” Ford's so-called 'no compromise' Escape represents less than one half of one percent of its fleet and will have virtually no impact on its last place fuel efficiency ranking. On September 2, 2004, Niel Golightly, director of environmental strategies for Ford Motor Company, told USA Today, “Clearly, the entire industry could build nothing but zero emissions cars today if it wanted to.”