Enterprise Rent-A-Car: Now With Terrapass
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA 
on 11. 8.07
Photo credit: Business Week
Enterprise Rent-A-Car has buddied up with TerraPass to enable its customers to offset the pollution created by their rentals, effectively rendering their rides carbon neutral.
Starting January 1, 2008, the world's largest fleet of rental cars—1.1 million at last count, including 3,000 hybrids and 54,000 flex-fuel vehicles—will be the first major rental-car company to offer a carbon-offset option in the United States. Plus, Enterprise will be matching its customers' offset purchases dollar for dollar up to $1 million.
This is a major coup for TerraPass; and, if just 100,000 customers pay the extra dollar or so for a TerraPass, the program will offset 12 millions of pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions—or the equivalent of taking 2,000 Toyota Corollas off the road. ::Inc. and ::TerraPass
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That's nice and all, but they should be automatically offsetting emissions for every rental no matter what, and either including it in the price as a line item, or eating the cost.
Offsetting 100% of your operations should be considered doing the bare minimum of doing business. We're long past the time where offering customers the choice of whether or not to offset can be considered visionary.
It would be actually impressive if they announced that all rental miles and operations would be offset, and that furthermore, they'll be announcing plans to transition their entire fleet to hybrid vehicles.
I know baby steps are important, but it's time to start walking upright.
....or the equivalent of taking 2,000 Toyota Corollas off the road" ??
Huh??
May I suggest we take 300 HUMMERS off the road and try to talk some sense into the kind of people who keep choosing these insane vehicles?
In ancient rome, gladiators were cool.
Here in the US it's the monster trucks and overall reckless driving. Same fascination for me.....about that of a five-year-old.
....or the equivalent of taking 2,000 Toyota Corollas off the road" ??
Huh??
May I suggest we take 300 HUMMERS off the road and try to talk some sense into the kind of people who keep choosing these insane vehicles?
In ancient rome, gladiators were cool.
Here in the US it's the monster trucks and overall reckless driving. Same fascination for me.....about that of a five-year-old.
Is Terrapass legit? It just seems to me that buying carbon offsets seems like a scam. If I give them $20, how is that money used? It just seems like it's a way to profit from guilt.
Carbon offset programs are great for building awareness and motivating people to become 'passively active' in reducing our carbon imprint. One group that is directly reducing CO2 emissions is the various car sharing companies that have sprung up in Cleveland, Chicago, San Francisco and other places. They are very different from rental car given their purpose - to help the environment - and have shown that they reduce carbon emissions significantly. Unlike car rental, these organizations achieve offset through their operational model...not through selling 'options'.
Interesting choice of picture--it illustrates the difference between rental car agencies and car sharing services. Do you really want to spend half an hour in an an office waiting for an agent in a starched shirt to get off the phone and give you long forms to fill out before you can get in the car and go?
hybrids are nice and all, but let's look at the whole picture of fuel consumption and emissions before assuming that hybrid=the high road.
last time i rented from enterprise the car was a chevy aveo hatchback that got almost 40mpg simply by virtue of being a compact car. what do hybrid SUVs get, about 20?
regarding the larger discussion, enterprise is a car rental company. given their business model, it is a positive move for them to offer carbon offsets and high-mileage cars (hybrid or not). comparing them to car-sharing is an apples vs. oranges scenario. offsetting the carbon use from a rental car is not as good an environmental outcome as taking the train to your destination (or biking or walking, for that matter), but it is a good option for a CAR RENTAL company to offer. as for whether they should pick up the cost themselves, maybe that is how car rental companies can set themselves apart in the future?