Environmentalists Drive 'Gas Guzzler' From Protest Site

Townhall.com ^ | 05/30/02 | Unknown

[aSkeptic]

reminds me of a FOAF (freind of a friend) that went to a protest rally over big tobacco.. it was a bit weird to see her talk about it after bumming a cigarette from me.. These people should stick to following the greatful dead instead of politics..

[MasterSamwise]

SUVs are practical vehicles. It tends to be the driver that has the issues. I owened a 1992 Jeep Cherokee for 4 years and put over 100,000 miles on it. (It already had 65,000 miles when I bought it) I found that driving it RESPONSIBLY made me much safer than most of the people around me. Also, when I had to drive in bad weather (snow, rain, etc.) I had an advantage of ground clearance and 4x4. Proof is when 20 inches of snow fell, and only 3 vehicles could get off my street: a Ford Ranger (4x4 conversion), a Jeep Grand Cherokee (full time 4x4), and my Cherokee. Everyone else (truck, car, or whatever else) watched as the three of us drove up and down the street to pack the snow. Then they shoveled out of their driveway to the packed snow. Only then could they get their cars out. SUVs are safe and practical. To assume otherwise is either ignorant or blind wishfull thinking.

P.S. If you don't like SUVs, don't buy one. Leave the rest of us alone.

[Republic of Texas]

In a FREE MARKET SOCIETY, which I sadly admit we are not anymore, the fact that SUV's serve no purpose, other than to please the people who paid for them, is IRRELEVANT.

[Phantom Lord]

I remember an interview with the head of GreenPeace USA (The American chapter of the world wide organization). The interviewer shocked the hell out of me when he hit him between the eyes with this question (paraphrased)...

You have condemned SUVs. You are against them. You would like to see them banned. Could you then explain your owning 2 Chevy Suburbans?

He hymned and hawed and finally said that he "needed" them for his work and large family.

[Minnesoootan]

UFF-DAH!

Someone in need of a little de-programming?

What is not useful to you is very useful to another,someday you will realise that.....as far as your rant,it's irrelevant!

[Phantom Lord]

I don't care much for enviromentalist weirdos, but they do have one point about SUVs. They are stupid vehicles that have no physical or practical purpose.

You obviously do not know what your talking about. Try towing a bass boat with a chevy cavalier. Try pulling a horse trailer or catering rig with a Miata. Try moving a couch with a Geo Metro.

Try getting 3 child seats, mandated to be used by the Federal Government, in the back seat of a Dodge Omni.

I am married, but do NOT have any children. Guess what. I drive a Toyota minivan! Yes, a childless male with a minivan!

Guess what, it makes hauling my golf equipment, clothes, food, drink, coolers, etc... around the country a hell of a lot easier. And i can sleep in it when need be. Not to mention that when I have to do work on home improvements it saves me from having to rent a truck to bring home the lumber. I got 198,000 miles on it and it runs like new and I will continue driving it until it dies (probably next week).

You drive what ever you want. But try to dictate what I can drive and your gonna have some problems.

[Phantom Lord]

And further, on your "reason" that SUVs came to be. You couldnt be more wrong. SUVs came to be because of the boom in Minivan sales. Minivan sales exploded in the late 80's and early 90's. But there was an untapped market. Single or childless males. They werent gonna buy a minivan (except me of course, I got one). So they started making the SUVs. They accomplish the same tasks as the vans, but men would drive them, as do their wives.

Also, SUVs are classified as "light trucks" so they escape some of the regulations that cars fall under, which makes them more affordable than they would be.

Also, just how many autoworkers are you willing to put in the unemployment lines because you dont like SUVs, though your reasons have easily been shown to be absurd.

[Phantom Lord]

Oh, I forgot. Let us not forget the SAFTEY factor that is a big part of many SUV purchases.

[Minnesoootan]

But all those things you describe are in excess to what travel is intended for,people don't need the things you describe,you only need to travel from home to work and back,and to the government goods outlet once a week.....a bass boat? chriz mang! you can fish from shore! oh wait,no you can't,we don't like that either.... ;-)

Proud owner of a Chev Silverado extended cab full box 3/4 ton SUV,I still morn the day I shot and burried my '81 Chev 4x4 Scottsdale 350 bored .030 over with a double pumper Holley,Eidelbrock Streetmaster intake and headers SUV,but the new one works just fine also....

[Dementon]

He hymned and hawed and finally said that he "needed" them for his work and large family.

ROTFL... That is too funny!!!

I wish I'd seen that.

[Phantom Lord]

I miss my 1988 Dodge Ram Charger. My father bought it brand new and gave it to me when I went to college in Buffalo in 1991 for the snow. It died in 1999 with just shy of 200,000 miles on it.

If Dodge produced it again, as it was back then, I would be the first in line to buy it. I do keep searching for one for sale but they are far and few between. Nobody wants to part with them.

[Phantom Lord]

He is the same man who was found to have cut down some redwoods on his property to turn into boards and built a deck with em on his house.

Guess that must have been a better option than purchasing the wood from an evil capatilist lumber supply company.

[Minnesoootan]

Just goes to show,that most people think that these "SUV" type vehicles are new,and really serve no purpose,it's just that us that have been using the 4x4/panel truck/truck format since it's existance understand it's value,and use it.....when I moved to the Twin cities to go to school,I had to drive my old Ford 4x4 PU through downtown Mpls to drop off a classmate at his new apartment,I fealt like the Beverly Hillbillies!!! ;-)

[Phantom Lord]

Speaking of college. I packed my entire dorm room in my Ram Charger.

Try doing that with a VW Golf.

[sheik yerbouty]

Terry Mccauliffe, the 'rat Chairman(comissar) drives a Cadillac Escalade. It has been my experience that liberals are so full of excrement, that an army of steamshovels couldn't make a dent in the ambient level of bullsh'ite..

[Charles Martel]

How about a Jetta:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[mamelukesabre]

I think you don't understand what an SUV is. The first SUVs were: jeepster, jeep wagoneer, international scout, chevy carryall(later renamed the suburban), ford bronco, plymouth trailmaster, and there was another international model that sounded like "carryall", but I can't remember what it was.

SUVs existed way before minivans did. All the models I listed existed in the sixties or earlier and I know for a fact that the wagoneer was around in the fifties and I think the jeepster was around in the forties.

The modern luxury SUV came into existence exacly like I described....due to a tax loophole and with some help from increasingly strict CAFE standards that applied to "passenger vehicles" only and did not apply to "trucks". The original SUV had a very specific use. THe modern luxury SUV is not much good for off road use and is also not much good for highway use. It is a vehicle without a purppose and is not much good for anything.

Of course, I'm not advocating that the government should step in and tell people what to buy...that would be unamerican.

[mamelukesabre]

most modern SUVs couldn't even haul half as much as a 1975 ford LTD station wagon.

[moyden]

Environmentalism is all about socialism.

Environmentalists lie as a matter of course.

[Phantom Lord]

THe modern luxury SUV is not much good for off road use and is also not much good for highway use. It is a vehicle without a purppose and is not much good for anything.

I think it is safe to say that you have never been to a Jeep Jamboree. Jeeps, ALL of them, are excellent off road vehicles.

Since you brought up a 1975 Ford LTD wagon, how many 1975 cars could meet todays emmission and CAFE standards?

Do you think I should travel the country carrying weeks worth of clothes and supplies, along with golf equipment in a Chevy Cavalier? Not gonna happen buddy.

And my neighbor isnt gonna tow his bass boat with one either.

These vehicles have tremendous use and value. Your anger should be directed at people who purchase them without an interest in nor a desire to ever use them for these purposes. But they have every right to buy them. And many buy them because they are safer in them. Saftey is an important aspect of SUVs.