The Devil’s Advocate: Who Cares About Gas Mileage?
This is a new series of posts where I will challenge our environmental ideals with opposing perspectives I come across in day to day life. I think it’s important to understand both sides of any argument in order to strengthen your own resolve.
With all the talk these days about climate change and what we can do to prevent it, there’s been a lot of focus on the cars we drive.
It makes sense because cars are huge producers of carbon dioxide and, at least here in the United States, it seems that everybody has at least one of them that they use on a daily basis.
Recently, the US Government even decided that car emissions were such a big deal that they would offer huge cash incentives to people who would trade their old polluting ones in for new, more efficient models.
But why do we really care about cars and how efficient they are? I keep being told that they’re destroying our environment, but I don’t really buy it and here’s why.
Climate Change
I hear over and over again that the carbon dioxide produced by my big SUV is trapping tons of heat on the planet and warming it up. They say the polar ice caps are going to melt, polar bears are going to drown, and I’ll end up a sun bleached corpse in the middle of a desert.
Prove it!
The Earth has gone through numerous heating and cooling cycles over the course of its existence. Why should I believe for one second that, if in fact the earth is heating up, my SUV has anything to do with it?
Sounds like just another day in history to me.
Remember the global cooling hysteria of the 70s? Everyone was sure that the earth was cooling down and we were headed for the next ice age.
Too bad I wasn’t around back then to warm things up with my big global warming machine, huh?
The whole theory is just too wishy washy for me. Besides, did you notice how cold it was yesterday? How’s that for global warming?
Peak Oil
Don’t even get me started on peak oil. That’s the other big phrase you environmental nut jobs keep shouting about.
We’ve been sucking the stuff out of the ground with very few problems for over 100 years. You really expect me to believe that the wells are going to start drying up now? On what evidence?
People keep telling me about the gas shortages of the 70s. That was 30 years ago! Where are the gas shortages now?
There are way more cars on the road today and there seems to be plenty of oil to go around. In fact, gas prices now are lower than they have been in years.
Doesn’t that mean we actually have too much of it? Maybe we should start putting it back?
If you really do believe in this peak oil business and want to spur the development of alternative energy, shouldn’t you be thanking me for driving my big SUV?
The more I drive and the worse my fuel economy is, the faster we should run out of oil, according to you. That ought to provide a market pretty quick for those electric car manufacturers.
Maybe I’ll go on a cross country trip with my back seat filled with bricks. You’re welcome.
I can’t take all the credit though. I read a study the other day that found that all your eco buddies that bought Priuses drive them more than their old cars just to show off.
Humans are adaptable
Suppose I give in to all your arguments that the earth really is heating up and we actually are running out of oil. Just to get you off my back, suppose I even agree that my clunker is contributing to the mess.
No, I didn’t say “significantly contributing.” Don’t put words in my mouth. You eco geeks are always putting words in my mouth.
Anyway, the world’s changing and I’m causing it. I still say, “So what?”
Humans are the most adaptable creatures on the planet. We didn’t crawl out of the tar pits and work our way to the top of the food chain just to let a little heat take it all away.
Why are you so afraid of change? Won’t it ultimately be good for us?
If we run out of oil, we’ll find something else to use. If it gets too hot, we’ll just evolve to take on the new landscape. You believe in evolution, don’t you?
We’re adaptable creatures and pretty resourceful with these highly evolved brains we’ve grown. If things become unbearable, won’t we just put them to use and solve our own problems then?
All in all, I’d say I’m doing my part to help mankind quite well. Why do you want to change me?
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Image of hummer by Anatoli Axelrod
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ConsciouslyFrugal Said,
December 9, 2009 @ 10:36 am
This was hilarious! Oh good lord. Eco geeks! ha!
Whenever I come across these folks, I tend to agree with them. You’re right, dudes! We used to label homosexuality as a disease! We are frequently wrong and do change!
But then I start talking about consensus. It’s really, really, reeeeaalllllly difficult for scientists to come to a consensus on any issue. When they do, it’s time to pay attention. And then anecdotal evidence versus statistical, reading actual research vs. journalists’ interpretation of research, etc., etc.
But most of the time, I just tell them to shut up.
Joe Said,
December 9, 2009 @ 1:04 pm
I agree.
These nut jobs have even pressured the IEA into scaling down their production forcasts and upping the depletion rates.
So what if the US production has being going down since the early 70′s, I read somewhere that we are just saving our oil till the price is right. We just pretended to double the exploration expendature in the late 70′s.
Those peakers are so dumb, don’t they know that the electric cars could not be supported unless millions of wind turbines were raised and thousands of solar plants were install and that there is not enough energy to do this with out changing our current usage.
Those dumb asses probably don’t even know the significance of EROI in energy extraction.
Peter Korchnak Said,
December 9, 2009 @ 3:27 pm
All else being equal, it makes more sense to make minor MPG improvements to gas-guzzling vehicles than major ones to fuel efficient vehicles.
http://www.predictablyirrational.com/?p=264
Just sayin’.
Tyler Said,
December 9, 2009 @ 10:13 pm
Consciously Frugal – as usual your spunk is well received. “Consensus” seems to be quite a contentious word these days.
I’m afraid most people just don’t have a firm grasp on how the scientific method really works…me very much included.
Joe – hey man. Not sure if you realized my post was intentionally sarcastic, but either way, it looks like you have some pretty strong opinions.
I mostly disagree with you except that you raise a good point about electric vehicles – they’re not going to do much about our oil problems until the electricity they use isn’t produced with oil.
Peter – nice to see you around Peter! That’s interesting that so many people make the wrong choice when trying to make the biggest improvements, but not necessarily surprising.
Those kinds of decisions are typically based a lot more on psychology than on numbers.
ConsciouslyFrugal Said,
December 10, 2009 @ 9:50 am
“Those kinds of decisions are typically based a lot more on psychology than on numbers.” Which is how a society that lacks a decent understanding of basic scientific principles makes its decisions!
I’m tellin’ ya, we need to focus more on science education in this country. It’s hard for people to interpret what they hear and read if they have no basic understanding of how data is obtained and evaluated.
Monique Rio Said,
December 10, 2009 @ 12:48 pm
There is one thorny issue with cars that get better gas mileage: people will drive more. A cursory google search turned up this article which addresses this issue:
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/05/22/does-increasing-fuel-efficiency-make-people-drive-more/
As the article says though, at some point no matter how cheap the gas is people refuse to spend any more time in traffic.
Tyler Said,
December 11, 2009 @ 10:30 pm
Monique – For some reason I can’t load the article, but it might just be a problem with my browser. My greatest annoyance with driving has always been the amount of traffic over the price of the gasoline. Judging by the honking during rush hour, it sounds like I’m not the only one.