Dear Friends,

We invite you to join us in an international campaign to intervene and stop the oil addiction of the worst gas-guzzler in the auto industry—Ford Motor Company.

The information below (also available as printer friendly PDF) will give you everything you need to contribute to global change by working in your own community. By "Adopting" a Ford dealer, you can help get America on the road to energy security, a strong economy, a safe environment, a more secure country, and long-term sustainability.

Global Exchange, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, Ecopledge, Bluewater Network, Free the Planet, Energy Action and others are waging a campaign to demand that Ford Motor Company dramatically increase the fuel efficiency of its cars and trucks. If we can get Ford to make vehicles that go much farther on a gallon of gas, then we can initiate an ecological U-turn in the automobile and oil industries. It's time for automakers to start driving toward a clean energy future.

You can help by joining the Adopt-a- Dealer program. The program is a movement of local communities that are persuading Ford dealerships to make clear to the Ford Motor Company leadership that there is market demand for fuel efficient vehicles.

Ford vehicles account for approximately one month of the United States' annual oil consumption, an amount equal to the annual oil consumption of Italy. The Union of Concerned Scientists lists Ford's cars as the worst global warming polluters in the industry. The average fuel economy of Ford's fleet is 18.8 mpg, dead last among the top six automakers for the fifth straight year, according to the EPA. The typical Ford vehicle on the road today gets worst gas mileage than the Model-T did 80 years ago.

Each year that Ford continues to drive America's oil addiction, the American public and peoples worldwide face the consequences. Ford's primitive, gas-guzzling vehicles help fuel war, global warming, rainforest destruction, toxic waste and oil spills, human rights abuses, and air pollution. At the same time, American autoworkers' jobs are put at risk as foreign automakers drive technological circles around American companies.

The fact is that Ford currently has the technology to make cleaner vehicles—including SUVs—that get better gas mileage. The company just needs the will to innovate.

Breaking our oil addiction has the potential to change the world. We urge you to join the growing movement to Jumpstart Ford today!

I. MAKING FRIENDS

The Adopt-a-Dealer program is an easy way for anyone and everyone to get involved in the movement to break our oil addiction. Forming a coalition between local residents and Ford dealers will serve as an effective tool in catching the attention of Ford Motor Company. The dealerships are crucial allies for two main reasons:

1. Dealerships exist as the retail face of Ford.

2. When dealers complain, Ford listens.

The dealers do not work for Ford itself; they are independent businesses that have contracted with the manufacturer to sell Ford's cars, trucks and SUVs. The dealers have little-to-no control over the actual products they are asked to sell, yet they do have the potential for real influence. After all, without the dealers, Ford can't sell its vehicles. Essentially, if the dealers demand more fuel-efficient vehicles, Ford should deliver.

Here are the steps you can take to enlist Ford dealers in the effort to break our oil addiction.

1. First, locate a Ford dealership in your area. There are more than 13,000 worldwide (including the Land Rover brand, also owned by Ford), so there's bound to be one somewhere near you. To locate a dealership by city or zip code, visit Ford's website . We also have a list of dealerships that we can send to you.

2. Next, contact either Rainforest Action Network, (sarah@ran.org and 415-398-4404) or Global Exchange (cleancars@globalexchange.org and 415-255-7296) and let us know which dealership you have chosen to adopt. This is an important step because we don't want several different groups of people all targeting a single dealership. We will connect you with other people in your area who have identified the same dealership or, if their effort is already well underway, suggest another dealership close to you.

3. Once you have selected a dealership, you should organize other community members that are interested in joining the effort. Anyone can participate—your co-workers, family members, friends, and neighbors. Seek out local environmental or peace groups that are already concerned about the impacts of our oil addiction. While it is always helpful to organize large numbers of people to support your cause, even a small group can have persuasive power in this situation.

4. After forming a core group of participants, schedule a meeting with the owner of the Ford dealership you have adopted. Be careful not to make the dealer feel like the meeting is going to be an attack. It should be clear that this is simply a discussion between community members and the dealer regarding the vehicles that the community would prefer to see available.

5. The agenda for the meeting should be carefully planned. The pitch should be clear and concise. The goal of the meeting is to get the Ford dealer to sign a letter (below) that will be sent to Ford headquarters in Dearborn, MI. This letter is an opportunity for the dealer to use his or her unique influence to participate in the growing movement to break our oil addiction. The demands are simply that Ford dramatically increases the fuel efficiency of its vehicles. Underscore the point that we really are not asking that much of the dealer, just to sign a letter.

During the course of the meeting, be sure to remain polite. Many dealers have reacted emotionally and defensively when approached by community activists. DON'T FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE. Instead, try to keep cool and calm. Remember that the dealers are not the enemy. You want to be firm in your demands, while always staying friendly in your demeanor. The idea is to be hard on the issues, but soft on people.

6. Give it some time. Leave the dealer with any information you think might be helpful for a better understanding of the negative impacts of Ford's gas-guzzling vehicles (detailed fact sheets are available) . Offer the dealer two weeks to make a decision whether to sign the letter. Make clear that you expect a response and that you will be back to learn their decision.

7. If the dealer decides to sign the letter and support the demands, you've scored a victory! Make sure to organize a thank you effort to express your appreciation for the dealer's assistance. At the same time, make sure that the letter really gets in the mail to Ford. Ask for a duplicate of the signed letter, and then send the duplicate to either Global Exchange or Rainforest Action Network, where we are collecting them to send jointly.

8. If the dealer decides not to sign the letter, further actions are in order. Although the dealer is not actually working for Ford, the dealership is enabling Ford's and America's oil addiction by selling the company's vehicles. Since the dealership has decided not to join the effort for a more safe and secure future, it's your job to hold the dealership accountable for its decisions and take the campaign to the next level.

II. HOLDING FRIENDS ACCOUNTABLE

It is important to identify your dealership to the community as a promoter of Ford's gas-guzzlers. This can be accomplished in many ways, including protests, rallies, street theater, flyers, etc. The idea is to keep the pressure on the dealer until they change their mind and do the right thing. Every time you organize an action in front of your dealership, make sure a delegation of community members goes inside the dealership to keep the dialogue going. You want to let the dealer know that the protests will end as soon as the dealer agrees to send the letter to Ford.

Here are some ideas for actions at Ford dealerships:

1. Organize a protest at your local dealership.

• Recruit local environmental groups, bike clubs, and peace organizations to convene at your local Ford dealership.

• Use banners and picket signs to let the Ford customers know that Ford is fueling our oil addiction. We can supply eye-catching pre-stenciled banners.

• Hand out flyers and postcards to customers and urge them to tell the dealer that they want cleaner, more efficient cars. We can send you some postcards to distribute. • Bring noisemakers and bullhorns to your event. • Chalk and poster your message on the grounds of the dealership the night before.

2. Stage Political Theatre at the Dealership

• Intervention: Have someone dress up as a psychologist in a white lab coat and role play an "oil addiction intervention" with the Ford dealer.

• Oil Addiction Graveyard: Build some mock headstones out of cardboard or buy some empty body bags (available at hospitals, morgues and theater supply shops) and on each headstone/body bag make a sign representing a casualty of oil addiction: US Soldiers, Iraqi Civilians, Artic Tundra, Rainforests, Coral Reefs, Children's Lungs. Put a big sign in front of the graveyard reading, "Casualties of Oil Addiction."

• Declare Independence from Oil: Have someone dress up as the Statue of Liberty wearing a gas mask and "struggling to breathe free." Read the Declaration of Independence from Oil available at www.jumpstartford.com.

• Oil Addicted Bill Ford: Have someone play the role of Bill Ford Jr. and have him "guzzling" liquid out of cans marked "oil". Have people wearing lab coats marked "Rehab" come haul him away.

• Ticket the Gas-Guzzlers: Put mock parking tickets on all the Ford SUVs in the dealership lots. The tickets read, "Violation—Gas Guzzling Fuels Global Warming and War." Tickets are available by writing to: suvticket@globalexchange.org.

• Crime Scene: Surround the dealership with yellow police tape (often available at theater supply stores) so it looks like a crime scene. Put up some signs reading, "Global Warming Crime Scene."

No matter what you do, make sure you contact the press several days before your action to generate coverage of the campaign and your group's activities in the local newspaper. More detailed How-To guides on organizing a Ford dealership demonstration and working with the media are available by contacting either Rainforest Action Network, (sarah@ran.org and 415-398-4404) or Global Exchange (cleancars@globalexchange.org and 415-255-7296).

Ford Day of Intervention: Talking Points on Oil Addiction Pick and choose your favorite facts to craft your message!

American Vehicles are Gas-Guzzlers

Private vehicles are the single largest contributor to oil addiction, guzzling 40 percent of oil consumed by the United States. The single biggest step away from oil addiction is for the automobile industry to begin producing cleaner, more efficient cars.

We Can Do Better

• Like any addiction, our oil addiction is dangerous. Our oil addiction endangers our environment, our economy, and our national security.

• Breaking our oil addiction is NOT rocket science. The technologies exist to make our cars go much farther on a gallon of gas, but Ford's will is lacking.

• The sooner we break our oil addiction, the better off we will all be. A clean energy future will mean more jobs, a cleaner environment, and a stronger national security in which we will no longer be at the whims of oil-exporting regimes.

• We are protesting Ford because the company's environmental rhetoric doesn't match its record.

Ford Says it's an Environmental Company, yet Fails to Live up to its Rhetoric.

The overall average fuel efficiency of Ford's fleet today is 18.8 mpg, dead last among the top six automakers for the fifth straight year, according to the EPA. Ford vehicles are the worst, on average, when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Ford vehicles are responsible for approximately 9 percent of America's oil consumption.

Many Ford vehicles get fewer miles per gallon than the Model-T did 80 years ago!

In 2003, Ford broke its promise to America to increase SUV fuel-efficiency 25 % by 2005.

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, generating up to 100 tons of atmospheric carbon apiece over each truck's lifetime.

Ford's Escape hybrid represents less than one half of one percent of its fleet and will have virtually no impact on its last place fuel efficiency ranking.

Earlier this year, Ford dismantled its electric and natural gas vehicle programs, including the popular TH!NK all-electric, zero emissions car.

In August of this year, CEO Bill Ford, Jr. wrote California Governor Schwarzenegger urging him to veto a bill allowing hybrids getting at least 45 MPG to use the carpool lanes.

Ford Fuels Climate Change and Rainforest Destruction

Ford's wasteful vehicles spew greenhouse gases driving climate change. At current rates of global warming, 87% species in the Amazon rainforest are doomed to extinction.

Oil development destroys forests, fragments ecosystems, and creates toxic waste.

Example: In Ecuador, Texaco's oil development between 1971-1991 deforested two million acres of rainforest, spilled 16.8 million gallons of crude oil, and dumped 4.3 million gallons of known carcinogens and other toxic waste into indigenous communities.

By Failing to Innovate, Ford is Placing Jobs at Risk

By failing to innovate, Ford is placing the livelihoods of American autoworkers' at risk, as foreign auto companies continue to drive technological circles around American companies.

Ford Can Be a Leader

Ford Motor Company—the face of the American auto industry—has the opportunity to become a leader in clean vehicle technologies.

Ford is the second largest automaker in the world and its actions have the ability to move the entire industry.

As a symbol of American entrepreneurship and patriotism, Ford should do everything it can to break our addiction to oil.

What are you asking Ford to do?

We are asking Ford to be a real leader and put its money where its mouth is.

We are asking Ford to protect the environment, our national security, and public health by making more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Specifically, we are asking Ford to manufacture a vehicle fleet that gets an average of 50 mpg by 2010. By 2020, we want Ford to produce a vehicle fleet that emits zero greenhouse gases at the tailpipe.

Are your demands fair?

If Ford were to put off-the-shelf technologies into its vehicles today, it could increase average fuel efficiency to 40 mpg.

If Ford converted its entire fleet of new vehicles to gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, it could give consumers 60 mpg.

Hydrogen fuels and electric vehicles charged from wind or solar power offer the promise of completely reducing tailpipe emissions.

Below are two letters to be used in during the Adopt-a-Dealer campaign.

The first is a letter to be delivered to Dealership staff/owners each and every time you visit the dealership.

The second is the letter we want all dealers to send to the Ford headquarters in Dearborn, MI.

To the employees, managers, and owners of this Ford dealership,

We are here today as part of a global campaign to improve the fuel efficiency and curb the greenhouse gas emissions of Ford Motor Company. Please understand that our efforts are not aimed at you or your dealership, but at the actions of Ford the manufacturer.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ford has the most fuel inefficient vehicles among the major automakers for the fifth straight year. At the same time, Ford's vehicles have the worst greenhouse gas emissions of all the major automakers, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. In 2004, Ford canceled both its clean natural gas vehicle program and its zero emission electric vehicle program.

Ford Motor Company also fails to encourage government policies that promote oil independence and climate sanity. Between 1998 and 2003 alone, Ford spent at least $45 million on lobbying, much of it in opposition to increases in fuel economy. The company has also fought to keep in place loopholes that allow it to avoid compliance with federal standards. And 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.

Although Ford heavily markets its environmental progress, the company's credentials ring hollow without a broader commitment to reducing oil dependence and greenhouse gas emissions. Ford's Escape hybrid SUV is dramatically underproduced, and will comprise six tenths of one percent of Ford's fleet production. Ford's much-promoted Rouge River plant has the world's largest green roof, but produces 280,000 F-150s, contributing millions of tons of carbon to the world's atmosphere over their lifetimes.

We are here today as independent citizens concerned about protecting global security and preserving the environment for our grandchildren. We hope that you will pass this message on to Ford in Dearborn.

Sincerely,

***

Mr. William Clay Ford, Jr. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ford Motor Company The American Road Dearborn, MI 48120

Dear Mr. Ford,

As a longtime Ford dealer, I care deeply about the vehicles we bring to the showroom. That is why I am writing to ask you to take immediate steps to dramatically increase the fuel economy of our vehicles. I am convinced that the long-term financial success of both my dealership and Ford Motor Company is tied to the company's ability to provide customers with better technology and better products. Committing the company to improving overall fuel economy is the way to reach that goal.

The technology exists today to make all of Ford's vehicles—from sedans to pickups to SUVs—go farther on a gallon of gas. Instead of leading the industry by introducing advanced hybrid and electric vehicles, Ford has missed opportunities to gain market share and is now playing catch up. Offering customers advanced engines, transmissions, and designs that save them money at the gas pump will associate the Ford brand with high quality, high technology vehicles. Unfortunately, today the company is driving in the wrong direction; Ford's overall fuel economy has been the lowest among America top automakers for five years running and for 20 of the last 30 years. It's time for Ford to make a U-turn and start leading the industry toward a clean energy future.

Increasing the fuel economy of Ford vehicles will demonstrate to Americans that the company cares about the future of this country and is willing to do its part to make the nation safer and more secure. With our troops in harm's way, we must recognize the connection between our products and America's dependence on foreign oil.

As we move into Ford's second century, please think carefully about the company's future. Our success tomorrow rests upon the decisions made today. Ford Motor Company was built on a spirit of innovation. It is time to retake that mantle and lead the industry by dramatically improving our fleet average fuel economy and eventually offering customers the next generation of zero emissions vehicles.

Thank you for your attention. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,