SUVs Are Destroying the Planet

I have written numerous times about how I hate SUVs. I am sure also that I've given numerous reasons and recounted how, in addition to my original reason (they have high headlights that hurt my eyes when they shine in my rear-view mirror), I have pretty much continually found more and more reasons to dislike them.

A couple of my current gripes: Several manufacturers of SUVs (and pickup trucks as well) have begun giving their vehicles very aggressive styling. One manufacturer started it and at least two others have followed suit. Presumably this is a selling point with some buyers; but these vehicles deliberately are made to appear intimidating to other drivers, and especially when one of these is following my car too closely—almost literally driving right on my rear bumper—I do in fact find it intimidating. It's as if that huge thing behind me wants to swallow up my car. (Not to mention that following too closely is unsafe, and it almost ensures that my car will get rear-ended if I should have to stop abruptly.)

And I think that intimidated is exactly what the SUV driver wants to make me feel. In this situation I will sometimes make a gesture to convey to them to "back off"; but sometimes that driver can't or won't get the message. A few of them seem genuinely clueless about how intimidating their vehicle, and their driving habits, are.

And—number two—I believe that SUVs are destroying the planet. Well, they and their owners are doing a lot to destroy the planet.

You don't hear this but my logic, I believe, is unassailable. The greenhouse gases that a vehicle emits are in proportion to the fuel consumed. Therefore, the poor fuel economy (and thus, of course and very simply, a lot of fuel burned) translates to high greenhouse gases emission. (See "Update," below.)

People who drive uneconomical vehicles think (and probably will tell you, if you give them a chance) that if they can afford the gas, their vehicle's fuel economy is their business and no one else's. But then, the people who drive enormous SUVs are probably not "green" people nor people with an acute social conscience.

Update, October 4, 2012.
The new vehicle label from the government (EPA/DOT) displays the statement, "Vehicle emissions are a significant cause of climate change and smog." Of course I am happy to see this information being made more available to car buyers. Also, the new labels give an indication of  just how much greenhouse-gas emissions the prospective vehicle will produce. So now car buyers will be better equipped to contemplate this aspect of the consequences of their vehicle purchase.

Copyright © 2012 by Richard Stein