Photo: Julia Lewis Dreyfus at EMA.

Toyota and Lexus Salute ‘Green’ Celebrities at the 16th Annual Environmental Media Awards

TORRANCE, Calif., Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ — Toyota and Lexus are proud to
be Presenting Sponsors of the Environmental Media Awards. This star-studded
gala event recognizes the creative teams behind television, film and music
productions that raise public awareness of environmental issues by
incorporating positive environmental messages in their work. Previous
honorees include Daryl Hannah, Edward Norton, and Cameron Diaz, and
programs such as Grey’s Anatomy, The Simpsons, and Lilo & Stitch.

“Entertainment is a potent vehicle for raising awareness of
environmental issues,” said Dian Ogilvie, senior vice president and chief
environmental officer of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. “The creative
teams who are honored with an Environmental Media Award are inspiring
people to think and act in ways that benefit our planet.”

Toyota, the world leader in hybrid technology, also provides a way for
people to act through an everyday choice: the vehicle they drive. Toyota
and Lexus combined offer five hybrid models in the United States in the
mid-sized sedan, SUV and sports car segments. In all, Toyota’s hybrid
vehicles have saved over 150 million gallons of gas in the United States,
and avoided more than 3 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. Hybrid
sales are led by the Prius, which topped 500,000 worldwide in April. This
year alone, Toyota will sell more than 100,000 Prius in the U.S., which
features Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive.

Hybrid Synergy Drive is also featured on the Highlander Hybrid and the
Camry Hybrid which debuted in April. Both hybrids are over 70% percent
cleaner for smog-forming emissions than the average new vehicle on the
road. Camry Hybrids are built at Toyota’s manufacturing facility in
Georgetown Kentucky, Toyota’s first hybrid to be built in the U.S.

Last year, Lexus introduced the RX 400h, the world’s first luxury
hybrid. The RX 400h combines luxury, performance and cleaner emissions in a
sleek package. In April, Lexus launched the GS 450h hybrid luxury sports
sedan, the world’s first front-engine, rear-wheel full hybrid.

“Worldwide, Toyota plans to offer hybrid engines in many of our
products and we’ve set a goal of one million hybrids by 2010,” said Dian
Ogilvie. “We’ve made a very big commitment to this technology because it
gives people a way to drive what they want, but produce fewer emissions and
get higher fuel mileage at the same time.”

Toyota’s commitment to the environment goes beyond the hybrid story.
The company’s initiatives in North America include: recycling, reducing
landfill waste, conserving natural resources, using renewable energy, and
nurturing strong partnerships with organizations like the U.S. National
Parks Service, National Public Lands Day, National Arbor Day Foundation,
Audubon Society the American Lung Association, and EMA.

The Environmental Media Association is a non-profit created in 1989 by
producers Norman Lear and Alan Horn and their wives Lyn Lear and Cindy
Horn. EMA is guided by top Hollywood talents and leading environmentalists.
Proceeds from the EMA Awards secure the future of the organization and its
work within the entertainment industry to encourage TV and film producers
to weave environmental messages into scripts as well as utilizing
celebrities as role models.

Public Web site: http://www.toyota.com

 

Film winners this year were “Hoot,” “Ice Age: The Meltdown,” and “Syriana” and documentary winners were “An Inconvenient Truth,” “Too Hot Not To Handle,” and “Who Killed The Electric Car?“

Sean Axmaker of the Seattle Post Intelligencer writes “It may sound like a downer, but Paine turns it into a call for action.”

Though it may have an uplifting theme, Robert Koehler of Variety says “The film recalls — though never entirely explains — the efforts by manufacturers of e-cars to both make them and squelch them. But a finger is also pointed at government for failing to enforce its original mandate.”

The San Bernardino Sun reported that “The company refused to renew the vehicles’ leases and wouldn’t let customers purchase them.”

“‘The ultimate sadness for us & (was) they took the cars off the road’ and destroyed them, the 45-year-old Los Angeles resident told about 250 carpoolers Thursday. ‘They never had a chance to catch on.’”

So Paine created the documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car” to investigate the mystery – and it has stirred up a lot of interest.

Read full story. 

“Who Killed the Electric Car” stars Martin Sheen.