Campaign Feature: Jumpstart Ford

As part of its mission, Jumpstart Ford works to move the company from its current "worst polluter status" toward acting as a role model in a movement that partners corporations with campaigns and advocacy organizations to achieve a cleaner future for America's auto manufacturers and consumers.  The campaign's decision to focus directly on the Ford Corporation rather than on regulatory change follows a trend among environmental and public health advocates, but the campaign is by no means soft in its demands, which include pressuring Ford to produce a fleet of cars and SUVs that average 50 mpg by 2010 and zero emissions by 2020.  In the summer of 2006, the campaign’s website reported new blockades at Ford mega dealerships in Ft. Lauderdale and Los Angeles, as well as the founding of a summer “Freedom from Oil Action camp” which taught new activists the ins and outs of targeting the automobile industry for change in the interest of public and environmental health and safety.  Jumpstart Ford sees America’s oil dependence not only as a threat to human and environmental health, but also as a threat to national security.

During the November 2006 midterm elections, many candidates ran on a platform of lowering America’s dependence on foreign oil, thereby strengthening domestic security.  Given the frequency with which this platform was presented, Jumpstart Ford’s strategy of focusing on public and environmental health, safety and national security, is poised to have more impact on Ford Motor Company’s practices in the near future.