Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car Announce Industry's Largest Carbon Offset Program

St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) October 31, 2007 -- Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car, owned by the Taylor family of St. Louis, announced today a new customer carbon offset program - the largest of its kind in the industry and the first consumer initiative to be launched under all three rental car brands.

Annually, between 20 and 25 million customers of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car will be offered the opportunity to benefit the environment by offsetting the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated by their car rentals. By opting in during the reservation process to pay $1.25 per rental, customers can fund certified offset projects that work to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

Customer offset purchases will be matched by the company dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million. Beginning in January 2008, the program will be offered at participating locations in the U.S. and Canada; it will be extended to Enterprise's European customers in mid-2008.

"Our customers tell us that making sustainable choices when they rent a car is important to them," said Andy Taylor, chairman and chief executive officer of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, whose family earlier this year purchased the National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car businesses. "This carbon offset program (http://aboutus.enterprise.com/what_we_believe/environmental_platform/carbon_offset_program.html) empowers them to make that choice and address the impact of automobile emissions on climate change. And we are also committed to match their offset purchases up to $1 million.

"For us, environmental sustainability is an integral part of how we operate. It's about sustaining our business for the long term by addressing the parts of the world we touch with our business," said Taylor. "This new program is the latest addition to our industry's most comprehensive environmental sustainability platform. We don't presume to offer a total solution, but we believe we are taking meaningful steps in the right direction."

"Enterprise, National and Alamo are taking a smart, progressive approach to sustainability," said Erik Blachford, chief executive officer of TerraPass, the company that will administer the carbon offset program. "They have developed a thoughtful and comprehensive environmental platform that emphasizes market-based solutions and encourages testing new technology. At TerraPass we share those values, so we are proud to join them."

TerraPass will administer the program funded by customers' offset purchases. Customers will be able to purchase their carbon offsets while booking their reservations through call-in reservation centers or online at www.enterprise.com (http://www.enterprise.com), www.nationalcar.com (http://www.nationalcar.com), or www.alamo.com (http://www.alamo.com).

"It's exciting to consider the potential of this initiative and the impact our customers could have on our environment," said Pat Farrell, the company's vice president, corporate responsibility and communications. "If each and every one of the renters we reach opts in to the program, along with the company match, we could offset approximately half the carbon produced by the combined Enterprise, National and Alamo fleet."

The carbon offset program is the newest plank in the industry's most comprehensive environmental sustainability platform (http://aboutus.enterprise.com/what_we_believe/environmental_platform.asp), which includes:

- The world's largest fleet of fuel-efficient vehicles (http://aboutus.enterprise.com/what_we_believe/environmental_platform/fuel_efficient_fleet.html) - More than 440,000 cars in the combined Enterprise, National and Alamo worldwide fleet average a highway fuel efficiency rating of 28 mpg or better, and more than 237,000 average at least 32 mpg. 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 (http://aboutus.enterprise.com/what_we_believe/environmental_platform/technologies_alternatives.html) - The companies have the world's largest fleet of FlexFuel vehicles - 54,000 cars and trucks that have the ability to burn E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. In addition, they own between 4,000 and 5,000 gas/electric hybrid vehicles. Nationally, Enterprise 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 (http://aboutus.enterprise.com/what_we_believe/environmental_platform/research_development.html) - In February 2007, the Taylor family gave $25 million to create the Enterprise Rent-A-Car 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 Enterprise Rent-A-Car 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 (http://aboutus.enterprise.com/what_we_believe/environmental_platform/million_tree.html), 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.

"This customer carbon offset program is part of a much bigger commitment to environmental stewardship by the Taylor family," said Farrell. "Our focus will remain on helping to find long-term solutions to address the impact automobiles have on climate change by investing in renewable fuels research, advanced clean-technology cars and related initiatives that support our environmental sustainability platform."

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 seven out of the past eight 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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