Recent Comments:
Oh, so a Hummer is NOT greener than a Prius {Autoblog Green}
Oct 7th 2006 11:14PM To Glenn on #10 response:
Right-on...
Yes, the hydrogen solution is not quite ready yet for practical reasons, but it's getting there!
Oh, so a Hummer is NOT greener than a Prius {Autoblog Green}
Oct 7th 2006 10:57PM EDIT: "...influencing your decision is right, wrong, or somewhere in-between."
I know there are a few other errors, but this is the biggest one that I can see.
Oh, so a Hummer is NOT greener than a Prius {Autoblog Green}
Oct 7th 2006 10:26PM I.
About the comment concerning how much energy is used to make a Prius--for everyone bashing this, no one has asked what kind of energy is being used by the factories to begin with.
So, what KIND of energy is being used? I don't have an answer to this question, but I think it's one worth thinking about. Not all power plants are burning fossil fuels after all. Surely fossil fuel plants are a large contributor to the global warming issue that suddenly the public is 'becoming' aware of. But, there is another kind of power plant that doesn't do this--and, it's also in wide use...
If we concentrate on changing how we generate energy used by factories, and everyone for that matter, then this big debate on how much energy Toyota uses to produce a Prius becomes a moot point. (Of course we have the means to affect complete replacement of fossil fuel plants, but that's another debate.)
Then, the next thing to tackle would be how to eliminate fossil fuel use in cars. Eventually, eliminating this all together will happen, but until then, I think building cars that use LESS fossil fuel than its other class equivalents (such as Prius or any other hybrid car) is not a wasted effort while we pursue this goal.
II.
I can understand how a hybrid owner might feel a little proud for their decision to help the environment much more than I can understand the smugness someone might feel when they've come up with a "smart enough" reason to openly bash hybrid owners for being convinced that buying a hybrid car is a step in the right direction. There's nothing wrong with expressing support for a cause through a purchase, regardless of whether how you interpreted the information influencing your decision is write, wrong, or somewhere in-between. The environmental support present in the act itself is better than nothing at all.
Who's less concerned with image? Surely not someone smart enough to judge someone for being a hybrid owner and all the while feeling justified. And, surely not someone who openly 'brags' about not being influenced by pride.
Who cares which country has the most oil? We're almost out of the stuff--which isn't good to begin with--and burning it for energy is wrecking the stability of our planet anyway. We should be scrambling to find an alternative to oil, and in the meanwhile diluting our dependancy on it.
And, who cares that we are going through growing pains as we try to figure out how to ween ourselves off of fossil fuels? We're quickly plunging into a global crisis, and any effort made in trying to address this--whether faulted or not--is a positive thing. This desperately needed movement--whether by manufactures or by consumers--should not be criticized so passionately by loud nay-sayers sitting on the sidelines waiting for a better idea to fall out of the sky.
III.
Small facts can easily deter people from caring about the big picture. We should really take care in what battles we choose to fight. I for one would more readily defend any effort of a manufacturer to produce a more environmentally conscious product, than to bash it with an argument created against it for the sake of arguing.
