Hi Bob, Can you please cite some numbers to back up your claim? 30 MPG is pretty good (although old cars tend to be worse from the point of view of toxic emissions), but every examination I've seen of the question of whether the improved efficiency of a hybrid offsets the C emissions due to its manufacture has concluded that the hybrid is better than keeping the old car. (I guess that might not be true if you do very little driving.)
Jane On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 10:08 PM, Robert Fireovid <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > McDonough is like the Toyota ads that would seduce me into trading in > my 1994, 30 mpg Prism for a brand new Prius. Considering the > quantities of non-renewable natural resources that are extracted, > transported and transformed into a new car (and the amount of Nature > that is destroyed in its wake), I would have to own the Prius for > over 50 years to "pay back" that resource debt and generate any net > improvement in my environmental footprint. > > Young people love (and have taught me the power of) You-Tube. Have > them watch this short spot, "The Story of Stuff," to see what I > mean... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqZMTY4V7Ts > > - Bob Fireovid > > > >W. McDonough and M. Braungart's Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we > make > >things (2002) might be interesting for your summer reading list. They > >suggest a proactive approach to environmental issues that is refreshing, > >maybe even hopeful. > -- ------------- Jane Shevtsov Ecology Ph.D. student, University of Georgia co-founder, <a href="http://www.worldbeyondborders.org";>World Beyond Borders</a> Check out my blog, <a href="http://perceivingwholes.blogspot.com";>Perceiving Wholes</a> "But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy." --Plutarch, c.46-c.120 AD
