i am an environmentalist. is that a bad word these days? did i miss a memo?

THAT MY CAR!

And well, I get twice the mileage than Aural's Nissan yet i can fit a wheel car just like her!

The Forester has 1000 lbs of towing capability and i've used it moving many friends. Great power and handling.

And and fuel consumption is really not that far off of the Mazda 3.
quick fact:
(if each car was driven for the same amount of distance within the year, fuel cost for the year would be as follows [in CND dollars])

Honda Civic: $966.00
Mazda 3: $1088.00
Subaru Forester: $1270.00
Nissan X-Trail: $1325.00
Volvo V50: $1451.00
Ford Mustang (4.5L) $2320.00
Land Rover Range Rover: $2636
BMW X5: $2660.00
Cadillac Escalade: $2746.00


i couldn't find anything for the Hummer.
source: Transport Canada

No sir, I just said that because a lot of people have beef with SUV's because of the environmental factor. That's not my problem with it. It's hard to take a stance on one thing that relates to treating the environment bad and then not be active and consistent in other areas. Like, I can say, "geez, don't litter, it's horrible for the environment" but then I own a pick-up truck that is horrible with gas intake. and probably isn't so hot for the environment. It's a slippery slope for me and I don't think I could ever meet the standards of what it means to be an "environmentalist". It implies activism on some level to me. Yes, I care about the environment and what happens to it, but I am not banging down D.C.'s front door to do anything about it. I think my laziness makes it just easier to complain about things. I am an awful person.

reading over that anti-hummer website, it was made clear that those who are proud to have a hummer are:

1. violent (at least on web boards)
2. racist (at least towards "jap cars" and "ricemobiles")
3. convinced that voicing your opinion that their car sucks makes the person voicing that opinion "unamerican"

It's conspicuous consumption, people. For us Americans, our excessive wealth tends to make our make our lives look better, but end up not benefitting us as a race much at all. It's also the same reason were are disgusting fatbodies, watch too much television and are incredibly susceptible to fads.

conspicuous consumption
excessive wealth
susceptible to fads


i don't think it's always excessive wealth, but also being a 'victim' of marketing.

being someone now working in the financial field it's amazing people's financial non-well being. yet the excess of material things they have.
statistics currently show that nearly 7 in 10 people are living on the seat of their pants with lines of credit, credit cards, loans and so on....
all living on borrowed money, borrowed time.

It's a damn shame they can't put same the gas guzzling engines with truck emissions in a smaller car that doesn't block your view.

I say excessive wealth in regards to most other people in the world. We have more money than we know what to do with.