There's a real rush, especially in Europe but growing in the US to hit the car manufacturers with the blame for Global Warming and all of the associated evils that come with it.
You can see why - cars are a very visible symbol of the pollution that we're so worried about. But of course what we drive contributes a relatively small percentage of the CO2 in the air. Sure car companies have to get better and we, as the people who buy cars, need to get smarter about both what we buy and how we drive. But the truth is that we're stupid.
We'll buy a Prius because we think that it has a lower environmental cost ---> without looking at the lifetime energy cost of the vehicle. We don't look at the cost of manufacture and disposal; just at what comes out of the tailpipe while we own it.
It's the same with Plug Ins. We'll buy them and feel superior as we hum around town with zero emissions - whilst hundreds of miles away our pollution is displaced and churned into the air buy the giant power stations doing the dirty business of giving us our 'clean' energy.
I'm all for a 'lifetime energy cost' or 'total pollution' label being added to everything we buy. Show the footprint of Fiji Water and see how sales do (I find the idea of flying water to countries that have an abundant supply horrific)
I know that it's a lot to ask that we get smart about how we think of the planet ---> but it's only an understanding of the supply and manufacture chain that will allow us to make choices that make sense.
Okay - off my soapbox. And back into my 4.0L car (oops)
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