Press Release Samples

 

1. AC Propulsion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Zan Dubin Scott
(310) 383-0956

AC PROPULSION EXPANDS ITS MANUFACTURING CAPACITY IN CHINA TO MEET GLOBAL DEMAND FOR ITS ELECTRIC DRIVE SYSTEMS
- First Employees Hired For Production Space in Beijing -

LOS ANGELES–AC Propulsion, a global leader in electric drive development, design and manufacturing, today announced that it is expanding its production capacity and upgrading manufacturing processes with a new facility in Beijing. The move, part of a broader global expansion, is the first step in a major expansion in China and far more than doubles the company’s manufacturing space in the country, where it now makes electric drive systems at its manufacturing facility in Shanghai.

“Our order book is overflowing, so we’re expanding to meet future demand,” said AC Propulsion CEO Tom Gage. “We are gratified to be participating in the vast growth of the Chinese electric vehicle market and expect to have the first AC Propulsion-powered vehicles on the road in China in 2011.”

The new Beijing manufacturing facility, which substantially more than doubles the company’s facility space in China, will produce electric drive systems for a range of automobile companies and vehicle converters selling in China and globally. AC Propulsion received incentives and other inducements to build the facility from the Beijing government, part of a China-wide program to promote the production and use of hybrid and electric cars in China over the next decade. China is committing more than $15 billion to this initiative.

A marketing staff has already been hired for AC Propulsion’s new Beijing facility. Much of the plant’s manufacturing equipment will be produced and shipped from the company’s U.S. headquarters in San Dimas, Calif. Production and other employees will be hired over the next several months. Further expansion in Beijing is planned.

AC Propulsion employs 50 workers in its Shanghai office, where it manufactures electric drive systems for AC Propulsion customers around the world.

About AC Propulsion: 
AC Propulsion is a global leader in the development, design and manufacture of electric vehicle technology. AC Propulsion’s proprietary tzero™ technology is a complete solution for electric vehicles, and can be customized for every class of electric vehicle, from a sports car to an SUV to an 8-ton city bus. AC Propulsion is also a leader in the development of Vehicle to Grid (V2G) capable vehicles, as well as the research and development of V2G technology.

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2. JUNKride 2009

Environmentalists Ride to Raise Awareness of  “Plastic Soup”
“JUNKride” Spotlights Environmental, Health Impact of Plastic Marine Debris

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Zan Dubin Scott: (310) 383-0956

 

SANTA MONICA—Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins, who have brought world attention to the  “plastic soup” fouling our oceans, on April 4 will embark on a 2,000-mile bicycle ride/speaking tour from Vancouver to Tijuana in a quest to end the age of disposable plastics.

Eriksen, director of research and education with the Algalita Marine Research Foundation (AMRF), and Cummins, AMRF’s education advisor, will pedal to 15 cities in 10 weeks for JUNKride 2009. Delivering dozens of presentations to educators, policymakers and the public, they’ll show wrenching photographs from a decade of research at sea: a dead turtle trapped in a plastic lawn chair, an albatross carcass bulging with tooth brushes and bottle tops, the plastic stomach-contents of fish commonly served in restaurants.

“In ten years, the amount of trash floating out to sea has doubled,” Eriksen says. “We’ve got to find a better way soon. We’re already finding plastic waste in the food we eat.”

The Algalita Marine Research Foundation, a Long Beach-based nonprofit organization, was founded by Captain Charles Moore, who first put the plastic soup problem on the map and spoke at this year’s TED Conference.

“Moore’s work made it clear that plastic pollution is having a major impact on our marine environment,” says world renowned biologist Daniel Pauly, former director of the Fisheries Centre at the University of British Columbia. “I commend Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins for raising broader awareness of this grave problem with JUNKride.”

Santa Monica residents, the couple will launch JUNKride 2009 at the Vancouver Aquarium, then head south for lectures on the environmental and human health impacts of plastic marine pollution. They’ll stop at universities, schools, other aquariums and the like in Seattle, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and other big cities. Their Los Angeles lecture, a collaboration with Surfrider Foundation, is slated for June 19.

 

AMRF has focused its research on the North Pacific Gyre, a swirling vortex of ocean currents twice the size of the United States, in which a vast plastic buildup, or soup, is rapidly growing.

“We haven’t seen the worst of it and have yet to fully delineate the area,” says Moore. “This summer’s research voyage seeks to validate models that show the highest levels of marine debris are northwest of Hawaii near the International Date Line.”

Eriksen, a Gulf War vet, sailed through the gyre from Long Beach to Hawaii last summer aboard Algalita’s JUNKraft made of 15,000 plastic bottles. For JUNKride, he and Cummins will hand out 100 jars of debris-filled ocean water collected on the trip.

Says Cummins: “We hope to educate a new generation by going to schools and encouraging students to

think about where exactly “away is” in our throwaway society. We must start seeing the link between consumerism and long-term environmental impact.”

Scientists estimate that nearly half of all seabird and many marine mammal species are impacted by plastic waste, either from ingestion, entanglement or strangulation. The human health risk of the plastic ocean plague is growing.  Aboard JUNKraft, Eriksen collected rainbow runner fish, commonly served in restaurants, and found plastic particles in their stomachs.

“Plastics at sea are possible carriers for chemicals like DDT, PCBs and other pollutants, such as oil from our cars,” Eriksen says. “These are known human carcinogens and endocrine disrupters. Our research is examining whether they are released into fish that ingest plastic and wind up on our dinner plates.”

In fact, Cummins is testing her blood for the dangerous chemicals to determine if a correlation can be made between meal time and maritime plastics. This will be documented for “Synthetic Me,” a new outreach project.

Eriksen and Cummins say there is no way to clean up the North Pacific Gyre’s plastic soup. So, their manifesto is “do no more harm.” All along their route, they will work with legislators, educators and conservation organizations to promote ways to keep disposable plastics out of the ocean. They will urge everyone they meet to use stainless steel water bottles instead of single-use plastic containers and carry groceries in canvas, not plastic bags.

“It makes no sense that we take a material designed to last forever, then turn around and make products from it that are designed to be thrown away,” Eriksen says. “That’s the opposite of sustainable living.”

Global warming activist Laurie David also commends JUNKride. “Individuals can make an enormous difference in the battle against environmental destruction,” says David, a producer of “An Inconvenient Truth.” “Marcus and Anna are doing the work of an army’s worth. I applaud their tireless effort and devotion to the cause.”

JUNKride is a project of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, and sponsored by Ecousable, Horizon Lines, Xtracycle, Kashi, Revolution Fitness, BringYourOwn.org, Color Service Inc., Close the Loop and Patagonia. For the JUNKride lecture schedule and more information: http://junkraft.com/homeJunkRide.html

About Algalita Marine Research Foundation (AMRF): AMRF is a Long Beach-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of the marine environment through research, education and restoration. Our primary work is to establish a baseline data set of the level of plastic debris found in our oceans and inform the public about its existence through public education. Information: (562) 598-4889; http://junkraft.com/homeJunkRide.html or www.algalita.org.

To download photographs of the JUNKride trip to Hawaii: http://www.flickr.com/photos/algalita/. To see “Good Morning America’s” 2008 coverage: ABC/Good Morning America: http://tinyurl.com/dkhjdw.

To download photographs of animals impacted by ocean plastic: http://tinyurl.com/bakzqt

Los Angeles Times blogs about JUNKride

Christian Science Monitor reports on JUNKride

 

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