Save the Planet
from American Oil Consumption
Ken Thomas
June 9, 2009
AP
American auto sales are way down. Yet there are still many on the road. And they are terribly inefficient. Congress is considering a remedy. They are offering auto-owners around $4,000. All they need to do is trade-in their car or truck: a fuel-inefficient one for a high gas-mileage one. This will boost auto sales. Also it will decrease oil use and pollution.
[Hummers are a god-awful sight.
I wonder: what are the psychological motives for buying such an ugly vehicle? We need to discover its redeeming qualities. People who buy them have certain values. They think something is more important than fuel-efficiency. We should discover what that is. Then we could devise a means to communicate alternate values.
My guess: Hummers can do more than other cars and trucks. In fact, if war came to the American streets, a hummer driver is automatically prepared for combat situations. Often Americans look for utility above aesthetics or nature-conservation. Strip malls get the job done. But they are nauseating and forest-consuming. Americans look at their world. It is made of tools. Americans ask: what can this thing do? Perhaps the question should also be: what will this thing do? The Hummer will pollute excessively. However, the fuel-efficient car will decrease our dependence on oil-producing nations. Many of these countries "harbor terrorists." So Hummers really are not the vehicle with true combat power. Fuel-efficient ones will get our soldiers out of Iraq. This will help conserve our military resources instead of depleting them in Arabia. Environmentalism is the new patriotism.]
Image obtained gratefully from: http://wallpapers.pixxp.com/17__Hummer_H2_Geiger.htm
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