SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Esurance, the direct-to-consumer personal auto insurance company, announced the second year of its domestic partnership with World Wildlife Fund for Earth Hour. The event urges individuals and businesses to turn off their lights for one hour to raise awareness about the connections between energy use and our environment. This year's event will take place Saturday, March 28, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. in every time zone across the world.
Now in its third year, Earth Hour seeks to reach a billion people in over 1,000 cities worldwide. Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Nashville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco are this year's flagship U.S. cities.
"As an auto insurance company, safety is always our main concern," said John Swigart, Esurance Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer. "Our partnership with WWF's Earth Hour reinforces our commitment to the safety of our environment and emphasizes the need for businesses to provide solutions to the global problems we face."
As a special limited time promotion for Earth Hour, Esurance plans to offset the carbon emissions from vehicles insured by the auto insurance company through a custom Web page: http://www.esurance.com/earthhour The high-quality carbon offsets purchased from NativeEnergy support a wind energy project in St. Leon, Manitoba, Canada, which feeds clean power to the Midwest grid, providing energy to eight American states.
"Earth Hour lets people examine how their individual actions affect the global problem of climate change while sending a powerful message to leaders about the need to develop solutions for a sustainable future," said Leslie Aun, WWF's Vice President of Media Relations and Managing Director of Earth Hour US. "By supporting climate change initiatives like Earth Hour in the United States, Esurance leads businesses in America pursuing this goal and we couldn't be happier to have them on board."
Swigart concluded, "By acknowledging the roles automobiles play in the environment and providing a simple, free way for customers to invest in renewable energy, we hope to increase awareness and ultimately provide solutions to the climate crisis."
For more information, please visit: http://www.esurance.com/earthhour
About Esurance(R)
Esurance, a subsidiary of White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE: WTM), provides personal car insurance direct to consumers online and through select online agents. Because of Esurance's virtually paperless online customer experience, Esurance car insurance customers have saved thousands of trees since the company's inception. Esurance has also helped plant and maintain approximately 70,000 trees to date by supporting a variety of urban reforestation programs. Esurance is also committed to safeguarding the environment through its own operational practices, including a fleet of hybrid claims vehicles and investment in renewable energy sources to offset the electricity used in each of its permanent office locations.
Over the years, Esurance's environmental initiatives have earned the company awards and recognition. In 2008, Esurance was inducted into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Leadership Club for its significant purchase of renewable energy credits. For more information about Esurance's green initiatives, visit: http://www.esurance.com/environment
About World Wildlife Fund and Earth Hour
Earth Hour (http://www.EarthHourUS.org) is a global initiative of WWF in which millions of people around the world will cast a vote in favor of action on climate change by turning off their lights for one hour on March 28, 2009 at 8:30 pm local time. By voting with their light switches, Earth Hour participants will send a powerful, visual message to their leaders demanding immediate action on climate change. WWF is the world's leading conservation organization, working in 100 countries for nearly half a century. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, stop the degradation of the environment and combat climate change. Visit http://www.worldwildlife.org to learn more.
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