A) A SUV is big and has lots of horsepower. Not ideal if you need to get traction. You are better of with a lighter vehicle and less horsepower.
B) If you are stuck you can usually always get out of trouble with snow chains. If you cannot get out with snow chains, you most of the time cannot get out with 4-wheel drive either. They even sell devices that go onto a wheel quickly just to get you out of the ditch. Yes, you do need to get out of the car to put those devices on. Maybe even shovel some snow and crawl around your tires.
C) If the weather is really horrible you may not be able to get to work. Again, that is not a life-or-death scenario. It happens all over the world all the time. Bad weather makes driving difficult, sometimes unsafe. So you don’t go. Go another day to make up. Stay longer a few days to make up. Here in Vermont they send people home when a big storm looms. Stores close early. Schools are closed. We make it up in the summer. Live goes on.

On the old 4-wheel drive trucks you had to get out and twist a knob on the front hubs to get into 4-wheel drive. They figured out that they could sell more of those vehicles if they make it easier. It went from there to SUVs and permanent all-wheel drive cars and now people cannot live without them. Don’t you feel stupid? The rest of the world can live just fine without huge 4-wheel drive automobiles and you cannot? Come on!

The daily use of a polluting vehicle to get you to work even if you may not need this sort of vehicle most of the time (and cleaner solutions exist) is a reflection of your priorities. I am fine with that, just don’t claim to have different priorities.

Sorry for not being more supportive. A fast value revolution is not a pleasant thing to push for.

Karsten
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http://www.polluteless.com
Practical Advice to Pollute Less

First of all, those who say they do not like to be judged, often mean that they do not want others to ANALYZE their situation. It is wide-spread spread in North America to reject the questioning of and looking at your neighbor’s habits by others. It has pros and cons. On the positive, more people can do whatever they feel like and that can be good. On the other hand, more people can do whatever they feel like and that can be bad. There are ethical limits to what we can do as individuals because our actions may impact on the well-being of others. Pollution is not our business alone, it is everyone’s business.

If you claim to care about the environment and that you do your best (or even better than others) you need to accept to be held against the light of critical scrutiny in regard to your ecological impact. Most certainly, no individual’s situation is easy to analyze or compare with others. Nevertheless, it can be analyzed and just because you do not like the results does not mean it should not be done.

Cut and dry: A SUV is generally a large, heavy, highly powered vehicle with a rather inefficient engine when it comes to gasoline consumption per vehicle (not per horsepower). The utility value of an SUV cannot be denied and North
Americas`s modern lives are difficult to live if you refuse the transportation conveniences offered by those sort of vehicles. Much of this life-style developed as a result of the development and marketing of these vehicles. Soccer Moms may have existed before the minivan or SUV, but it really took off after it became more convenient with the help of the development of SUVs and minivans. In the past people put their stuff on top of or behind their cars, not inside.

To continue this further, the problem with the SUV is neither the U, nor the V. The problem is the S. Utility vehicles exist for a long time and have existed way before the SUV came along. The first Landrovers had little horse power and successfully crossed the Sahara loaded with survival gear and equipment. The problem today is that we expect to drive such vehicles as if they are sports cars or luxury vehicles. They are loaded which makes them heavy. They are driven hard and, combined with their mass, are inefficient as a result.

The other problem is luxury and size. Before the SUV, there were station wagons. Other than 4-wheel drive and size, they offered what an SUV can do. Sure, less conveniently, less room, less sporty, less heavy, just as inefficient, and with less status. The large station wagon was replaced and with it disappeared the willingness to pack kids tight into a car, load the roof with stuff, have less stuff, etc. We have gotten lazy and spoiled.

Most US-Americans are used to the SUV as part of their life-style. They are not needed unless you like to live this life. This is of course easier said than done since it is hard to just disconnect yourself and risk being considered an outcast or weird. No doubt, not being able to participate equally is difficult for most adults and children. Nevertheless, it is true. Just look at other places that you could consider comfortable. Europe for instance. Much fewer SUVs or even minivans. Do they live a horrible live? No, they don’t. Do they have a completely different infrastructure? Yes they do, but that is not a result of the unavailability of the SUV there. They use trailers or rent a truck. Even in Canada there seem to be fewer SUVs. And they sure do not live badly. Gas is and was much more expensive there as long as I can think. The monsters could not develop, as a result a life-style did not develop.

A SUV is a reflection of your life-style choices, not your needs. If you choose to drive a SUV please accept that you choose a vehicle that is less efficient than others. Keep it for a long time, drive it as rarely as possible, drive it defensively, don`t drive it alone. And work on your life-style that is dependent on your SUV. Without a SUV you may not be able to live your life as conveniently. You may not like the limits imposed on you by having only a small vehicle, but most likely you could do it. Much of it was done before the SUV. In the long run, once gas gets to be over $6 per gallon, you may say good-bye to your home in the mountains and say “hello again” to the ways of living your parents or grand-parents were used to.

I predict that large efficient utility vehicles will be developed more. Until then you may have to wait and suffer hearing that your choices are poor in regard to the environment (even if they are understandable in regard to modern life and mainstream US-American’s perception of feasibility, safety, or even freedom).

Statistically speaking SUVs have more accidents than regular passenger cars. Too much horse power, high center of gravity, perceived invincibility.

A trailer may be not as easy to maneuver but it costs very little in comparison to an SUV, has a higher utility factor, allows you to transport even manure, can be treated like crap and still works fine, and does not increase your fuel consumption when you do not need it. If you need to haul something big and need a really powerful vehicle, well, you live big. Don’t lull yourself into thinking you can do that and have a sustainable impact on our planet. You can’t have the cake and eat it.

We will not reduce our ecological impact by 80% without ending most of what we like to do in North America. You can continue convincing yourself that what you do is NEEDED, or you can look at what you do honestly and rationally and separate WANTS from NEEDS and begin changing. It won’t be as comfortable as it was. Get used to it – The world is changing.

Karsten
–
http://polluteless.com
Practical Advice to Pollute Less

Second, Margie made a good point about carbon offsets and it’s a great idea. I too have used them. Thanks for pointing that out.

The third point I want to make is there’s more of “us” out there than actually “treehuggers”. We’re in the middle, just trying our best. What about those that drive a hybrid and fly everyother week? We have to be realisitic and supportive of each other.