EPA’s Blain Collison presents a “Green Power Partner plaque to Fitzgerald.

WANADA Chairman Jack Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald Auto Malls, who has earned an array of awards for his business innovations and community activism, added another distinction last Friday when he kicked off Earth Day weekend with a special celebration to announce that his Maryland stores will be the first in the U.S. to become “Green Power Partners” with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
To earn that status, Fitzgerald agreed with Pepco Energy Services to switch all of his Maryland dealerships from electricity generated by conventional power sources to 100% “green-e certified wind power,” beginning this May. The Clean Energy Partnership, an environmental group that encourages businesses to purchase green power, advised and assisted Fitzgerald in his shift  to green power.

The change over to wind from electric was estimated to cost about 5% more for an operation the size of    Fitz/Malls. But Fitzgerald said he made the decision to move to “green power” because  “we need energy alternatives to oil, and should be reaching out to wind power and solar folks to help those industries get stronger and become real competitors. When that happens, we can shop and compare prices, just like the car business.”

Jack Fitzgerald receives MD Gen. Assembly citations from Dels. Susan Lee, Kumar Barve, Sen. Jennie Forehand and Del. William Bronrott.

Fitzgerald, who was actively involved in this year’s effort in the Maryland General Assembly to create an energy commission, said he was proud of his industry and dealer associations for “taking the high road” on an environmental policy. “The environmental movement is a lot more friendly to business than businesses realize and is something that should bring us all together,” he said.

State Senator Jennie Forehand and Delegates Kumar Barve, William Bronrott and Susan Lee presented Fitzgerald with special citations from the Maryland General Assembly in recognition of his efforts to protect the environment. The citation presentations were capped off with a gift from the legislators of a Chesapeake Bay tee-shirt, which Fitzgerald displayed for the assembled group.

NADA environmental attorney Douglas Greenhaus praised Fitzgerald for being one of the first dealers to participate in the NADA/EPA Energy Star Program, which was first announced at this year’s Washington Auto Show. The energy savings have “low costs upfront and a quick return,” said Greenhaus.

Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said Fitzgerald Auto Malls was a good example of “business, government and environmental leaders coming together to work for a cleaner environment.”

In addition to adopting alternative power, Fitzgerald Auto Malls also celebrated the success of their ambitious recycling program. In 2006, Fitz/Malls recycled over 2 million pounds of waste in Montgomery County, representing over 80% of the waste they generated  This resulted in Fitzgerald’s receiving the Outstanding Achievement in Recycling Award from the county in 2006.

Asked if he thought of himself as an environmentalist, Fitzgerald said, “I think of myself as a used car salesman; but if I’m walking across the used car lot and see a piece of trash and pick it up and put it in the can – the right can – that makes me an environmentalist, because that’s where being a responsible ‘caretaker of the planet’ begins.”