At a time when any number of companies have abandoned the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) over its persistent support for climate denial, Enterprise Rent-A-Car recently joined the business consortium as a paying member.
In response, ClimateTruth.org is out with a petition urging Enterprise, a purveyor of hybrid vehicles and tree-planting programs, to “live up to your own sustainability values and leave ALEC immediately.”
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Nick Surgey of the U.S. Center for Media and Democracy said Enterprise initially claimed it was unaware of ALEC’s hostility to renewable energy. “Please understand that our relationship with ALEC is solely focused on the car rental excise tax issue,” company spokesperson Laura Bryant told The Guardian. But Surgey said he found the company’s position “frankly implausible.”
While ALEC has drafted model legislation to undercut climate action and clean energy initiatives at the state level, and promoted measures to penalize people who install solar energy systems on their homes, Enterprise has until now been a sustainability leader in its industry.
“For us, the argument over whether global warming is a problem or not is over,” CEO Andy Taylor said in 2007. “As the world’s largest car rental company and a leader in the global travel industry, we are in a strong position to help drive sustainable travel solutions and policies around the globe,” wrote Enterprise Holdings CEO Pam Nicholson in the introduction to the company’s 2015 sustainability report.
