[Vwdiesel] Fw: SUV Bashing

[Scott Kair]

    Got this from another list.  Since she doesn't mention modern, clean
Diesel power, maybe she'd be open to suggestions.  :)
    Cheers,
    Scott Kair
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, November 25, 2002 7:14 PM
Subject: Arianna's Latest Column


> Why Oil Sheiks Love A Good Hummer
>
> By Arianna Huffington
>
> Once again, America is a nation divided.
>
> I'm not talking about the irreparable, brother-against-brother
> split between those who think the Bachelor should have proposed
> to Brooke instead of Helene. I'm talking about a contentious
> clash that is just beginning to rage. Call it the SUV war. As you
> read this, the opposing camps are staking out their turf.
>
> On one side sales of the gas-guzzling, pollution-spewing,
> downright dangerous behemoths continue to soar. And apparently,
> the more fuel-inefficient the better: Dealers are having a hard
> time keeping up with the demand for the Hummer H2, GM's new
> $50,000 barely domesticated spin-off of the Gulf War darling,
> which struggles to cover 10 miles for every gallon of gas it
> burns. The symbolism of these impractical machines' military
> roots is too delicious to ignore. We go to war to protect our
> supply of cheap oil in vehicles that would be prohibitively
> expensive to operate without it.
>
> There seems to be no shortage of Americans who think that
> consuming 25 percent of the world's oil just isn't enough. Maybe
> the next model, the H3, will need to be connected to an
> intravenous gas-pump hose all the time. And there would still be
> people eager to buy it.
>
> These are the same folks who don't give a whit (this being a
> family newspaper) that at an OPEC meeting last month, the oily
> group's secretary general announced that one of the few bright
> spots in an otherwise gloomy world was the U.S.'s seemingly
> unslakable thirst for its product. How nice it must feel for SUV
> owners, knowing that their swaggering imprudence is helping the
> world's anti-democratic oil sheiks sleep just a little better at
> night. Call this camp the Bigger Is Better crowd. Their motto:
> "Burn, baby, burn...30 percent more carbon monoxide and
> hydrocarbons and 75 percent more nitrogen oxides than passenger
> cars." How about this for a bumper sticker: "Honk if you hate the
> Ozone layer!"
>
> Lining up on the other side of the SUV DMZ are a disparate
> collection of groups and individuals whose aim is to win the
> hearts and minds -- and change the driving habits -- of the
> American public.
>
> These include the Evangelical Environmental Network, which is
> promoting greater fuel-efficiency through a provocative TV ad
> campaign that asks: "What would Jesus drive?" Hint: I don't think
> the answer is a Hummer. (Turning water into oil wasn't really his
> thing.) This comes at the same time that Americans for Fuel
> Efficient Cars, a group I co-founded with film producer Lawrence
> Bender, environmental activist Laurie David, and movie and TV
> agent Ari Emanuel, is producing ads parodying the
> drugs-equal-terror ads the administration is running. In this
> case, we're linking driving SUVs to our national security. When
> Hollywood progressives and the "WWJD?" crowd independently hit on
> the same idea, you know that something is up.
>
> Even as SUVs continue to roll off the assembly line and out of
> car dealers' showrooms at a record pace, there is a growing sense
> that the tide of public opinion is turning against these metal
> monstrosities. A tipping point in the push to wean ourselves from
> foreign oil has finally been reached. The SUV makers have won a
> few battles, but they may be about to lose the war.
>
> The new mood is very similar to the consciousness-raising that
> followed the efforts of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the
> Designated Driver campaign. Before that, the prevailing attitude
> was "hey, what's the big deal?" The campaign hammered home a very
> compelling answer to that question, and the public's perception
> of drinking and driving was changed forever. Getting loaded and
> getting behind the wheel went from being cool to being
> anti-social. With luck, getting behind the wheel of a loaded
> gas-guzzler is about to undergo the same transformation.
>
> To see how the SUV fight is going, take a look at the media,
> usually an excellent weather vane when it comes to these kinds of
> societal shifts. In the last week alone there has been an
> explosion in the amount of positive coverage given to the
> anti-SUV movement, including segments on all the networks'
> nightly news shows. This is no small thing when you consider the
> mega-millions in advertising dollars the auto industry
> represents.
>
> And in Washington, after steadfastly opposing any raise in fuel
> efficiency standards, the Bush administration let it be known
> last week that it is considering a proposal to increase the
> standard for light trucks and SUVs by 1.5 miles per gallon by
> 2007.
>
> While Team Bush hailed the proposed boost as a major victory in
> the battle for energy independence, Sen. John Kerry, who along
> with Sen. John McCain last spring proposed raising the SUV
> standard by 50 percent, called the 7 percent increase "window
> dressing." Others labeled it "political theater" and "almost an
> insult in its modesty." A thousand dittos.
>
> It does seem woefully inadequate -- especially when you consider
> how many loopholes have already been driven through by light
> trucks and SUVs, which are currently allowed to average 7 miles
> per gallon less than regular cars. And the ultimate absurdity is
> that if an SUV is massive enough, it is entirely exempt from
> federal fuel economy standards. That's right, build one with a
> gross vehicle weight of over 8,500 pounds -- like the Ford
> Excursion or the new Hummer -- and the leviathan's lousy gas
> mileage doesn't even have to be reported to the government.
>
> Chew on that one and see if it doesn't rev your engine:
> automakers are rewarded for being particularly inefficient.
> There's the Bush Free Market for you.
>
> Even the muckety-mucks in Detroit are starting to get the
> message. Ford, for instance, whose executives met last week with
> representatives from the "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign, has
> pledged to boost the overall fuel efficiency of its SUVs by 25
> percent over the next three years, and plans to introduce a
> hybrid gas-electric model that will get around 40 mpg.
>
> Of course, much of the industry's "we care" message is little
> more than a desperate attempt to forestall the inevitable and put
> a pretty PR bow on a very ugly reality. Their real message is:
> "We care about making money, and if doing that now means we have
> to make it seem like we care about the environment, then so be
> it." Take, for example, this "faux" socially-conscious reminder
> offered in the new Hummer brochure: "With the power to cross any
> terrain comes the responsibility to protect that terrain and its
> potentially fragile ecosystems."
>
> The war's not going the SUV makers' way, and they know it. So now
> they want to make it look like we're all on the same side. At the
> moment, they're trying to figure out just how far they have to go
> to quell the uprising. It's in all of our interests to let them
> know that a 1.5 mpg improvement is not enough. The consequences
> of our addiction to foreign oil are no longer an abstraction.
> ------
> If you have questions or comments, please contact me at
> arianna at ariannaonline.com.
>
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