Let me be the one to say this. Some Texans are unbelievably stupid!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Prepare to be angry. Very angry. This isn't even news to me and I'm boiling.

Texas is biggest carbon polluter

AUSTIN, Texas - Everything's big in Texas — big pickup trucks, big SUVs and the state's big carbon footprint, too. Texans' fondness for large, manly vehicles has helped make the Lone Star State the biggest carbon polluter in the nation.


The headquarters state of America's oil industry spewed 670 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2003, enough that Texas would rank seventh in the world if it were its own country, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The amount is more than that of California and Pennsylvania — the second- and third-ranking states — combined.

A multitude of factors contribute to the carbon output, among them: Texas' 19 coal-burning power plants; a heavy concentration of refineries and chemical plants; a lack of mass transit; and a penchant among ranchers and urban cowboys alike for brawny, gas-guzzling trucks — sometimes to haul things, but often just to look Texas tough.

Debbie Howden, an Austin real estate agent, said her family of six has two pickup trucks, three SUVs, and no apologies. "I would definitely put size and safety over the emissions thing," said Howden, 55. She calls their high fuel bills a "necessary evil."

Anthony Nguyen attended the famously liberal University of California at Berkeley but drives a black Nissan Frontier pickup handed down from his dad, a liquor store owner near Houston. Nguyen said his father hauled liquor around in the truck, but he admitted he has no practical use for its large bed.

"I think it's the idea that in Texas, everything is bigger," said Nguyen, 20. "I grew up here, and I think it's pretty cool."

Read more here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080116/ap_on_re_us/global_warming_texas

Now pardon me while I go and scour monster.com for a new job far away from here. :cry:

[Fleshdancer]

1. The monster trucks and SUVs here are insane

I, on the other hand, am completely in love with my MiniCooper...especially when I pull into the gas station every other week or so.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. You'll have the last laugh on them at the gas pump

I fail to see how some of them can continue to validate their foolishness.

I do understand having a truck for work, but not some monster vehicle as a primary driver to go to the grocery store. :shrug:

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

2. A lot of "big" thinking idiots here in Massachusetts too.

I drive a Corolla myself,but lots of SUV's around with only one person in them.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

8. I drive a Toyota too!

I love it. It gets 34-35 mpg (hwy) and it has a great green rating.

It just makes me angry to see all the smog that Texas has developed in the past ten years. Yet still these people pretend all is well.

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

12. I drove from Boston to Long Island,N.Y. this fall(my first trip in this car)

and only used a tank and a half of gas.

It was absolutely jaw-dropping!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

15. They're awesome.

Check out this site and you can see the green rating of your vehicle.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

You'll be pleasantly surprised!

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

19. Thanks for that link----most informative. I only

bought the car because I moved into a condo with a large parking garage,and parking was tight.

I got rid of my Taurus,bought a brand new Corolla,and am thrilled with my decision.

Like most of us,every penny I save on gas helps.

[HughMoran]

9. Tell me about it

There are times when we look in the parking lot at work and make jokes about the 12 gigantic vehicles parked next to each other (when it just happens that way.) At least people are conscious of it now, which is a start anyway.

[lonestarnot]

3. Well don't look here. Same story.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. We get a two -fer here

We have a huge problem with industrial pollution (thanks bush!) and we're populated with idiots driving monster vehicles too boot.

The air quality has gone to hell in a hand basket in the past ten years.

[lonestarnot]

14. Well in winter we usually get air inversion and pollutants are held down.

Snowbirds contribute when they flock here to avoid harsh winter in other places. Wind blows some of it out but stirs up all kinds of crap including Valley Fever.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. You have my empathy

We also get flocks of Snowbirds here. As if air quality isn't bad enough without all those RV's. :(

[Dukkha]

5. wow the Texan's replies say it all

openly scornful of the common good, total arrogance and apathy in being part of the problem, and gullibly believing in the "safety" lie on SUVs over compacts. They deserve all the health ailments they are making for themselves. May they choke on their own gluttonous lifestyle.

[mitchtv]

6. Some Californians are just as unbelievely stupid

Good bumper sticker: "If I wanted a Hummer, I'd have asked your sister"

[Lone_Star_Dem]

11. That's where I'm from.

I really miss home some days. I know how some there can be, but sometimes I wish I could just pack up and head back. All my family still lives there and while it's has it's regions of stupid, it also has a decent amount of good.

The problem here is we're out numbered about by a margin of near 60/40. It's painful.

[mitchtv]

18. about the same here in the desert

Coachella Valley this time of year has 10% of the nation's wealth, and 5% of the Rolls Royce sales. We watch them going out to destroy the desert all weekend long too. I don't know how a Californian could live there, personally. I moved here from Sonoma, and regret it daily

[SecularNATION]

7. Texas and Texans

Texas is a bad influence on the rest of the country. The U.S. would be better off, if Mexico took it back.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. But By Gawd we can't sign Kyoto cuz China's a polluter

[Lone_Star_Dem]

17. Yep. Then we have Texas, 7th largest polluting country.

I'm depressed.