SUVS adding nails to the coffin

By:

Posted: 4/29/05

In his remarks near Great Smoky Mountains National Park last Friday, President Bush said Earth Day was a good occasion to "recommit ... to being good stewards of our land."

"We didn't create this Earth, but we have an obligation to protect it," he said.

Unfortunately, the president's obligations to protect special interests seem to outweigh his commitment to preserve the environment, as evident in his so-called clear skies initiative.

While Bush says the measure would cut power plant emissions 70 percent by 2015 and 2018 Environmental, health and labor groups argue emissions could be reduced by as much as 90 percent within three years under current law, if regulations were tightened.

Given his skepticism of the threat of global warming, it's no surprise that Bush's plan would be slow to enforce new emission standards.

After all, when the Environmental Protection Agency submitted its report on global warming to the United Nations in 2002, the president responded, "I read the report put out by the bureaucracy."

Bush isn't alone in disparaging the scientific evidence of global warming, which may threaten future life on Earth. Michael Crichton disappointingly joined the denial-crazed ranks with the release of his most recent book, State of Fear, in which he attacks global warming as a massive conspiracy cooked up by the government and a coalition of scientists-turned-terrorists.

Crichton's brand of propaganda is, as Jeremy Leggett wrote in NewScientist last month, dangerous fiction.

Meanwhile, global warming is a dangerous reality.

All climate changes once occurred naturally, and some still do - through volcanic eruptions and solar activity, for example. However, beginning during the Industrial Revolution, human activities have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The heat-trapping property of these gases is undisputed, but uncertainties exist regarding how they affect earth's climate.

According to the EPA, increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases are likely to accelerate climate change, including a temperature increase of anywhere from 1 to 4.5 degrees over the next 50 years. Recent scientific studies consistently confirm that at least part of this climate change is manmade.

One of the most significant choices individuals can make to reduce global warming pollution is to drive high-fuel economy vehicles, as every gallon of gasoline burned emits 20 pounds of carbon dioxide. A car that gets about 30 miles per gallon will emit 50 tons of carbon dioxide in its lifetime, while an SUV that gets 14 miles per gallon will emit more than 100 tons of the greenhouse gas.

SUVs have contributed to America's declining fuel economy, which averaged 24 miles per gallon in 2000, the lowest in two decades. Ironically, the vehicles touted for their capacity to transport consumers "back to nature" aid in the depletion our natural resources.

In 2001, a mere 5 percent of SUVs were driven off-road, and the highway monsters accounted for one in every four new vehicles sold.

Legally, SUVs are characterized as 'light trucks,' which must achieve 20 miles per gallon. However, some SUVs, such as the Ford Excursion and the obscene Hummer H2, are so massive that they don't qualify as light trucks, and escape fuel economy standards.

This loophole is criminal. No vehicles, nor their drivers, should be exempt from adhering to fuel economy standards. Even skeptics of global warming must accept that burning less gas could only help the environment and air quality.

It is a shame that Americans must be faced with a physical threat to their safety and health before making healthier, more environmentally responsible decisions. It's an even bigger shame that, even when alerted to such a threat, so many choose to deny or ignore its causes and consequences.