NEWS: Man Happy to be Example of Everything Wrong with America

this is the ONLY "good" reason to buy a hybrid. And even that goes away most of the time if you end up paying more for the hybrid than a comparably sized car, which is usually the case.

Well, my Toyota Avensis (which is not a hybrid car) gets about 45-50 MPG. Which is very similiar to the MPG of hybrid cars. I'm not saying that it's completely pointless to buy hybrid cars, just that shopping around for non-hybrid cars that are a bit more fuel efficient can have the same effect. Presumably without the need to mine a large amount of nickel.

Also, I believe if people are serious about tackling global warming the first stage needs to be to convince China and India to massively curb their pollution on a large scale. That would be a very hard (impossible?) task, but unless it is achieved, no amount of fuel-efficient cars will save the planet from being ravaged by global warming.

+1

I do find it ironic, though, that your profile says that you are in Venezuela...

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

"I wish I could quit you, Fidel!"

The United States emits more greenhouse gases than either country, despite both China and India having populations four times greater than that of the U.S.

Most greenhouse gas emissions to date - 75% - have come from developed western countries, not developing Asian nations.

China and India are rapidly becoming major contributors to the problem, but it's a little dishonest to suggest that curbing their emissions should be the first step. Glass houses, anyone?

Well, the area around the Nickel plant that Toyota sources their nickel from is considered a dead zone by the EPA

A big "gotcha" right there is when you look at who is buying the production that pollutes

I can't help but think that wherever Old Henry is now that he's kicking himself for not outsourcing to china.

Ford is screwed, there's no way around it. They waited 5 years too long to move all of their eggs from the SUV basket, which is the american consumer's fault. Because of everyone's penis envy, bigger is somehow better when it comes to vehicles. If there's one thing us americans are good at is not learning from history. Case in point, the energy shortage of the early 70's.

If you combine the fact that gas prices are skyrocketing at an unprecedented pace with the fact that around $1500 of the price of every new car built in Detroit pays for the pension of its retired workers, you can begin to see that american auto makers can no longer expect to be reasonably competitive with more forward-thinking and nimble competitors.

Even if it shouldn't be the 'first' step, if something isn't done about China and India's emmissions, global warming will soon reach a catastrophe level - even if other countries reduce their emmissions.
Since it such a crucial step, it needs to be taken sooner rather than later, before more damage is done. My point is just that it is not nearly enough for individuals in the West to become more fuel efficient; China and India must also climb on board for any sort of strategy to have a hope of working.

Good point, are you suggesting that people try to curb China and India's emissions by refusing to buy their products? I'm not sure if that's the best or most effective strategy - especially as trade sanctions are rarely effective and tend to burn diplomatic bridges. But then again, I don't have many ideas myself of ways to fix the situation, so I guess you're already ahead of me.

Im not suggesting that we take any radical trade steps, I just feel it's necessary to point out how the underlying problem we have here is consumption. All that we have really done with current steps to stop global warming is pretty much just shuffle around CO2 production.

No, the underlying problem here is production. Changing consumption is only one of a number of solutions for stopping production.

For example, creating international emissions treaties is a solution that does not put the consumer at centre-stage. I'm not saying it's a good or effective solution, just that there are a number of ways of stopping the problem of production - and that convincing consumers to change their purchasing habits may not be the easiest or most efficient way to solve the problem.

The first step would be for america to sign the Kyoto Protocol. Then the Bush Administration could actually admit that the EPA has legal authority to enforce environmental laws which "hurt american businesses" and thereby actually setting an example for India and China. WE are the world's biggest consumers. Why should they bend to any international laws which will cost their businesses billions of dollars to logically enact when the world's largest consumer itself thumbs it's nose at the mere mention of such policies? If america is the greatest country in the world then it should start acting like it and lead by positive example instead of rampant denial of the obvious scientific data. Progress is never cheap, but you can't deny that if nothing is done, we are fucked as a species and we're taking most of the rest of life on earth with us. As Dustin Hoffman said in Hook, "Bad form Peter, bad form!"

Wanna guess which president first said that Kyoto would hurt American business?

It was Clinton. But that doesn't matter. He's not in power anymore and it's the current administration's job to pick up the ball. That's the problem, we spend so much time trying to place blame instead of actually doing something. It's not about republican vs. democrat. It's about doing something for the greater good of humanity.