Blame The Cars!

In my recent post, "A Driving Narrative," I explored expensive cars and why people buy them.  Now, those who want to buy a car face a greater enemy than cost.  They must deal with the environment.  In fact, there are many mistakes that people make while looking to reduce their carbon footprint.
 
The first mistake that people make is to buy into the negative narratives associated with a car.  How many times have you heard that Hummers are the ultimate in fuel inefficiencies.  In fact, the massive  truck-engined H1 and V8 H2 are hideously terrible for the environment.  In fact (little known fact) they literally club baby seals.  The H3, on the other hand, is not as inefficient as you may think. The redneck gas-burnin' Hummer gets 15 city, 19 highway.  That's not great.  But then again, the Hummers numbers are nearly identical to the elitist, Volvo XC90.  Put that in your latte and steam it.

On top of that, look at more than just your car for ways to be environmentally friendly.  For every pound of red meat that you eat, you contribute about 19 pounds of carbon dioxide to the environment.  A staggering number when you consider that an average is usually about 1/3 of a pound per mile.

How many self righteous Prius drivers know that the batteries in hybrids make their cars (over their entire lifetime) more damaging to the environment than many classic gas engines (including a hummer)?  How many people who drive electric cars seem to forget that most electricity in the US is made from polluting coal plants?  How many Prius drivers even use energy efficient light bulbs?  I am willing to bet very few.  It is much easier to sleep at night telling yourself that you aren't contributing to global warming because you drive a hybrid.  Forget about the complex global interlinking of economies and technologies, that Prius badge removes you from all guilt.

"What, your car is propelled by gasoline, wait there as I sharpen my pitchfork and get an angry mob together."