Independent: The US addiction to oil: The battered Hummer that symbolises a divided nation

[arenean]

From The Independent:

The US addiction to oil: The battered Hummer that symbolises a divided nation

From the article:

The argument over Hummers and vehicles like them go all the way to the White House. For the past 20 years car manufacturers have successfully blocked attempts to force them to become more efficient.

Curiously, while opinion polls reveal that given an option, three-quarters of Americans want dramatic increases in fuel efficient cars, they prefer to buy gas-guzzling Hummers, Cadillacs and behemoth-sized pickup trucks instead. Thirty years ago "light trucks", as 4x4 vehicles are classified, were only a fifth of all sales. Today they account for more than half. And in June, according to the latest figures from General Motors, the world's largest car manufacturer, Hummer sales were up by 11 per cent. As the New Yorker magazine put it: "We buy gas guzzlers, but we vote for gas sipping."

Americans who think little of getting into a three-ton 4x4 for a run to the supermarket, also want Congress and the White House to clamp down on their sale. But with the lobbying strength of the US car industry, that seems unlikely to happen.

[Kolesar]

1. I can just hear the cop mocking Jeff Bridges in "The Big Lebowski" after his car was trashed

"Yeah, the police department is going to put a whole TEAM on the investigation". Apparently, when someone trashes a new Hummer, the police *do* put a whole team on the investigation.

Actually, I think this article was pretty poorly conceived. The Washington Post had their own version of it yesterday: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1375897