we are planning a move to New Mexico in one to two years, at which point we'll have to get rid of the pickup and get a 4-wheel drive vehicle. to that end i have been keeping up with the progress of the hybrid Ford Escape since the beginning of its development. you can check it out here if you want to know more. the newsletter (called "Unplugged") on the site has the information. Ford, the maker of some of the biggest gas-guzzlers on the market, both SUVs and trucks, has a long way to go to convince me of its environmental responsibility. and this hybrid Escape will only get 29 - 31 mpgs on the open road, not much better than its conventional sibling. it may not be the answer to a light-hauling, 4-wheel drive vehicle. my research continues.
an interesting note....the Grist article mentions the Evangelical Environmental Network, the folks who started the What Would Jesus Drive campaign. so, without mockery or snickering, i went to the WWJD site to see what it was all about. they've got a damn good blog there, with an entry re the NYT article on the "green SUVs."
steps in the direction of creating vehicles that don't contribute to both our dependence on petroleum and the ruination of our environment seem to be baby-sized. i believe that the automotive industry could turn it all around in a couple of years if they wanted to. certainly in this nation that can send intelligent robots to Mars the technology exists to put earthly commuters into a whole new breed of transportation. but it will take either some global catastrophe or a real revolution to accomplish this. a few "hybrid" vehicles here and there may be a tiny step in a right direction, but they certainly aren't the solution.
5 comments:
You're right - we have the technology ~ we have to. I don't know what it will take to get the public to give up their giant eath stomping mobiles. It's ridiculous in my mind. Who needs a vehicle like that to drive to preschool or stop at the grocery store? From the looks of the parking lot....everyone!!
Yeah, the American automobile makers could be doing this in a big way, but they need some prodding from the government. And the guys in charge now don't care about conservation.
And the global catastrophe will be here in just a few more years when oil demand gets even further ahead of supply.
The technology is available. There are prototypes available now that are running on water, some on air (this was featured on CNN at one time). The Japanese are looking into this, and it's a shame that without their initiative, it seems our automobile industry won't even give it any thought.
I think the best way to force their hand is to choose foreign environmentally responsible cars. Profits seem to be the only language they understand.
Somehow I always envisioned Jesus behind the wheel of a VW minibus...:)
well yeah, maybe. the old kind from the 60's, with peace symbols and rainbows and stuff painted all over it? full of dirty old sleeping bags and guitars, no seats except the driver and front passenger? everybody sharing their dope? hey! i think jesus picked me up in france when i was hitching thru in the early 70's!!
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