Gas-guzzling pride

Opinionated Observation

In the face of declining global oil stocks, by-now-undendiable evidence that petrochemical pollution is causing noticeable climate change which may soon move beachfront property many miles inward, and the purely pragmatic fact of doubling and tripling gasoline prices, apparently many Americans still consider owning a Hum Vee to be a matter of pride.

"'You gotta stick with your program,' said Craig Adams of Durham, NC (my hometown) and proud owner of a Hummer H2 which gets about 12 miles per gallon." (The Durham News, 2005-09-10)

All I can say to this lunacy is it seems perfectly consistant with my observations about the red-blue divide. It's also utterly loony and irresponsible, given that there's no clear indication we'll have anything to replace oil as a fuel when it starts to be too expensive for most practical purposes (such as interstate transportation of food and other materials vital to the economy). We're taking a big gamble that there will be something, and we're not providing any serious incentive for consumers (e.g. people who own Hummers) to use the available supplies sparingly until we have a clearer idea of when the replacement will be available. Things could get very bad, depending on how the story plays out.

-- Woozle, 16:42, 10 Sep 2005

Links

• 2005-06-25 Gas-guzzling hum-Vee as a symbol of American pride (Craig Adams again, but a different story)