The San Francisco Chronicle has an enlightening article that says the Toyota Prius, the driving choice of those who truly care about our earth-goddess Gaia, is actually worse for the planet than a Hummer.
A 450-page report by the Oregon-based CNW Marketing Research, an "automotive marketing company," has come to this startling conclusion: The Hummer H1, H2 and H3 are more energy efficient than a Toyota Prius hybrid and many other smaller vehicles.
But what about all those reports that the Toyota Prius gets about 50 miles per gallon, and the Hummer averages about 8 to 10?
According to the CNW report, titled "Dust to Dust: The Energy Cost of New Vehicles from Concept to Disposal," that's not the way to calculate energy efficiency. You also have to factor in the amount of energy it takes to produce the vehicle before it gets on the road -- and the amount used to dispose of it.
By that calculation, the Hummer comes out far ahead. In "dollars per lifetime miles," a Prius' "energy costs" average $3.25 per mile, compared to a mere $1.95 per mile for a Hummer H3.
Of course, the environmental wackos just can't let that stand:
Enter the Pacific Institute, an Oakland-based environmental think-tank, with a counter-report alleging that the CNW report is based on "faulty methods of analysis, untenable assumptions, selective use and presentation of data, and a complete lack of peer review." Among its most flawed assumption: the average H1 Hummer is assumed to last 35 years, and travel 379,000 miles, while the average Prius is assumed to last only 109,000 miles over 12 years.
Change these "assumptions" and you end up with an opposite result -- that the Prius and others like it consume far less "lifetime energy" than monster vehicles such as the Hummer.
I don't see anything unreasonable in these assumptions; a made-tough Hummer would likely be expected to last longer than a over-complicated piece of plastic foreign trash. Presumably these "assumptions" are according to manufacturer specs.
They don't really say how you "change these assumptions," but I'm guessing it's the way liberals usually "change assumptions": ignore reality. That's how everything becomes possible in the liberal fantasy world: ignore facts and reality, then all things (like man changing the earth's environment, creating free quality health care, making everyone happy and equally wealthy, etc.) can happen.
Gotta love liberals! They're like that slow child that tries real hard.
1 comments:
And you've spent how much time researching the facts here? I'm sure you see no reason to question the assumptions when they fit your beliefs so neatly already. I mean, if you really believe a Toyota, any Toyota, is good for only 100K and a GM, any GM, is going to last for 400k, then ok. But if you just say, for the heck of it, say each of them will last 200k, then the entire CNW study crumbles like dust. But hey, I'm one of those whacky liberals and you're a straight-shootin', clear-eyed conservative, so damn the facts. Yeah, sure, a Hummer is better for the environment than a Prius. You and the Tooth Fairy and Santa Clause can all get together for a drive in your Hummer and have a good laugh about them thar deluded liberals. OK then.
Post a Comment