{"id":12170,"date":"2022-03-25T15:50:16","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T22:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/?p=12170"},"modified":"2023-03-17T11:14:41","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T15:14:41","slug":"the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/","title":{"rendered":"The origins of NDEW and DEED"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plug In America watchers know that Drive Electric Earth Day (DEED), celebrated for the entire month of April, is an extension of September\u2019s National Drive Electric Week (NDEW). But how did NDEW come about? It all started with President Barack Obama and, as DEED begins, we\u2019re taking the opportunity to briefly revisit the tale, with a related nod to the mother of climate change policy, as former California State Senator Fran Pavley is well known.<\/p>\n

When President Barack Obama took office in 2009, while it may seem inconceivable today, consumers could purchase only one mass-produced EV, a Tesla Roadster. But some of us back then still owned Toyota RAV4 EVs. At the time, they were the only EV sold, rather than leased, which put them beyond the clutches of the OEMs\u2019 crushers. So, as the nation prepared to officially greet its first Black president, a few of Plug In America\u2019s founders came up with an idea: Let\u2019s show the country\u2019s growing zeal for zero-emission vehicles by driving some of those RAV4s and Roadsters, plus some electric motorcycles and a few other stragglers, in President Obama\u2019s inaugural parade.<\/p>\n

We got three letters of support for our parade application to the White House: From (then San Francisco mayor) Gavin Newsom, Washington Governor Jay Inslee (then a representative), and Senator Pavley, who today is environmental policy director for the USC Schwarzenegger Institute.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this letter, I am writing to express my enthusiastic support for the application of Plug In America to participate in the January 20th Presidential Inaugural Parade in Washington D.C.,\u201d Pavley wrote. \u201cI believe the inclusion of a fleet of electric vehicles, in addition to a float promoting solar and wind infrastructure, will send a strong signal to the nation of the new Administration\u2019s support for renewable energy and clean technology efforts \u2013 an endeavor which will bring strong economic, environmental and public health benefits to the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bad news is that our application wasn\u2019t accepted. But that was the good news, too,\u00a0 because we came up with an alternative: Why not do a parade on home turf? And indeed, we staged history\u2019s first and greenest procession, \u201cInaugural Parade West: Plug In, America!\u201d in Santa Monica. We rounded up some 80 freeway-capable vehicles\u2013a big deal back then\u2013from across Southern California. (Video of the parade from start to finish by early PIA supporter Stefano Paris here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\"\"

Aerial shot of parade cars assembled before parade launch, 2009. Courtesy Zan Dubin-Scott.<\/p><\/div>\n

Pavley wrote the nation\u2019s first global warming law<\/a>, AB 32, and AB 1493<\/a>, which required a reduction in tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions. She spoke at our press conference, for which we issued a media alert with a big request:<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we congratulate President Barack Obama, who has called for one million plug-in cars by 2015,\u201d said PIA co-founder Paul Scott. \u201cBut, with the audacity of hope\u2014and the confidence born of years driving these cars\u2014we\u2019re asking Obama to accelerate his plan and make it happen three years sooner, then to boost that number to ten million plug-ins by 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n

Needless to say, we still haven\u2019t reached those numbers. The latest count: about 2.3 million total<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But something very big and very good resulted. While we got plenty of media coverage<\/a>, from Reuters on down, not a single TV news camera stuck around or showed up for this unprecedented parade itself, which, as EV drivers intent on accelerating adoption, was paramount. Later bemoaning this with my friend and fellow advocate Jeff U\u2019Ren, I said something to the effect of: \u201cIf that parade had been part of a national observance, we\u2019d have had a much better chance of TV coverage.\u201d To which Jeff replied, \u201cwe should put on a National Plug In Day.\u201d And voila. National Drive Electric Week, as we have since renamed it, was born. It is now observed for a whole week from coast to coast and internationally by thousands. DEED, which will include 170-plus events this year, extends the celebration. And media from Vermont to Alabama to Hawaii and beyond continue to carry our message of change.<\/p>\n

Plug In America co-founder Zan Dubin-Scott is co-founder with Jeff U’Ren of National Drive Electric Week, which never would have come to be or continued to thrive without countless hours of effort from PIA’s board and staff as well as that of thousands of volunteers who put on its individual events annually and its co-presenters, the Sierra Club, the Electric Auto Assn. and EVHybridNoire.<\/i><\/p>\n

Photo, top: Senator Fran Pavley at parade press conference, 2009. Courtesy Zan Dubin-Scott.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plug In America watchers know that Drive Electric Earth Day (DEED), celebrated for the entire month of April, is an extension of September\u2019s National Drive Electric Week (NDEW). But how did NDEW come about? It all started with President Barack Obama and, as DEED begins, we\u2019re taking the opportunity to[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe origins of NDEW and DEED - Plug In America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The origins of NDEW and DEED - Plug In America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Plug In America watchers know that Drive Electric Earth Day (DEED), celebrated for the entire month of April, is an extension of September\u2019s National Drive Electric Week (NDEW). But how did NDEW come about? It all started with President Barack Obama and, as DEED begins, we\u2019re taking the opportunity to[...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Plug In America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-25T22:50:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-17T15:14:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/zdsmid-1024x528.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Derrick Vargas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Derrick Vargas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/\",\"name\":\"The origins of NDEW and DEED - Plug In America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/zdsmid-1024x528.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-25T22:50:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-17T15:14:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8903e87a67a5088c99e7a967af8698de\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/zdsmid-1024x528.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/zdsmid-1024x528.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The origins of NDEW and DEED\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/\",\"name\":\"Plug In America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8903e87a67a5088c99e7a967af8698de\",\"name\":\"Derrick Vargas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c4f71cf6f5a753d45f602f0549122a2c146b38af249b1c3b70aeefe6b66be9b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c4f71cf6f5a753d45f602f0549122a2c146b38af249b1c3b70aeefe6b66be9b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Derrick Vargas\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/author\/dvargas\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The origins of NDEW and DEED - Plug In America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The origins of NDEW and DEED - Plug In America","og_description":"Plug In America watchers know that Drive Electric Earth Day (DEED), celebrated for the entire month of April, is an extension of September\u2019s National Drive Electric Week (NDEW). But how did NDEW come about? It all started with President Barack Obama and, as DEED begins, we\u2019re taking the opportunity to[...]","og_url":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/","og_site_name":"Plug In America","article_published_time":"2022-03-25T22:50:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-17T15:14:41+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/zdsmid-1024x528.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Derrick Vargas","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Derrick Vargas","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/","url":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/","name":"The origins of NDEW and DEED - Plug In America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/zdsmid-1024x528.jpg","datePublished":"2022-03-25T22:50:16+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-17T15:14:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8903e87a67a5088c99e7a967af8698de"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/zdsmid-1024x528.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/zdsmid-1024x528.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/the-origins-of-ndew-and-deed\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The origins of NDEW and DEED"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/","name":"Plug In America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8903e87a67a5088c99e7a967af8698de","name":"Derrick Vargas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c4f71cf6f5a753d45f602f0549122a2c146b38af249b1c3b70aeefe6b66be9b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c4f71cf6f5a753d45f602f0549122a2c146b38af249b1c3b70aeefe6b66be9b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Derrick Vargas"},"url":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/author\/dvargas\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12170\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluginamerica.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}