A good point to bring up Roger about suvs and their size vs. smaller vehicles and pedestrians. yeah, no kidding they are safer (suvs), but you just killed a family of 4 in a sedan that had no chance against an excursion. well, i guess it's back to "be the change you want to see in the world". I see that bumper sticker everyday on my neighbors jetta, if by chance he does not live in an accident because his car was not the larger one by majority and all other variables set aside, then he helped spread the message to me by example. I dont think people in unnecessarily large vehicles care, or even think about a larger picture unless it has to do with their finances.
capitalist industry is driven by demand. The companies advertised are giving american customers what they want: conveinience and big things. For any saving grace in the automobile industry, it will be the comsumer thinking materially smaller and efficiant, and globally larger and human friendlier. It will not be government regulations and controls, well, not with this current administration. Who knows how long it will take for such policies to be put into place and if people across the nation will get the point about sastainability. (with exception of cali).

It is not ONLY corporations but they certainly play a role...

It is not ONLY the men that buy Gas guzzlers..

It is also the women that find them sexy..

Women Who Find Ferrari Drivers Sexy Contribute to Global Warming?
By Chuck Squatriglia December 17, 2007

We doubt this came up last week at the United Nation's conference on global warming in Bali, but Britain's top government scientist says the best thing women can do to ease global warming is "stop admiring young men in Ferraris."

Yes, you read that right. Sir David King, a chemist at the University of Cambridge, says the world would be a greener place if only women didn't find men in exotic cars so sexy. Taken at face value, it seems outlandish - and some would argue chauvinistic - but King raises a valid point, even if it is obscured by the "sports cars and the women who love men who drive them are bad" tenor of his argument.

King, the UK's chief scientific advisor, told the Telegraph there's only so much governments can do to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and real progress will come only through cultural change. People, he said, must take a greater personal role in addressing the issue. He singled out women who find drivers of expensive sports cars "sexy" and said they should instead focus their affection on men in more eco-friendly autos:

"I was asked at a lecture by a young woman about what she could do and I told her stop admiring young men in Ferraris. What I was saying is you have got to admire people who are conserving energy and not those willfully using it."

King's comments, as you might expect, brought a sharp rebuke from Ferrari owners...

Dak_2 King has long called for immediate and aggressive action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, and he is widely credited with pushing the issue to the top of the British government's agenda. He is known for controversial comments, perhaps most famously his claim three years ago that global warming poses a greater threat than terrorism. King played a key role in pushing the U.K. to go beyond the emissions reductions outlined in the Kyoto Protocol, but tells the Telegraph:

"Government has so many levers it can pull - when it comes to the business sector, it is quite effective. As soon as you come to individuals, however, they will buy a Ferrari, not because it is cheap to run or has low carbon dioxide emissions, but because young women think it is sexy to see men driving Ferraris. That is the area where a culture change is needed."

Peter Everingham, secretary of the Ferrari Owners Club, tells the Telegraph "nearly 90 percent" of Ferrari owners are married and so "are not looking to impress women." It also should be noted that Ferrari is aware of its contribution, whatever it may be, to carbon dioxide emissions and vows to produce greener, more fuel efficient cars.

King claims he wasn't condemning Ferraris or those who might find their drivers sexy, but offering an example of the cultural shift that must occur if we are to seriously address global climate change.

It's a valid point. A survey earlier this year by the Pew Research Center found roughly three in four Americans believe global warming is real, but just 47 percent believe human activity - i.e. burning fossil fuels - is to blame. What's more, most Americans don't consider it a pressing issue. Another survey, by AC Nielsen, places the U.S. toward the bottom of 46 nations with regard to its attitudes on the issue.

Perhaps more telling, a recent survey of British consumers by the international business consulting firm LEK Consulting found 37 percent of respondents believed their actions were responsible for global warming, but only 20 percent thought they bear any responsibility to do something about it.

Most felt the problem should be addressed by the business and government sectors.
blog.wired.com/cars/2007/...o-find.html

I agree with mass transit even though when being bogged down by traffic is still quite efficient. On our express routes espcially here in Harrisburg, Pa, the bus provider has good drivers who know the alternative routes when there is a traffic accident. When this happens, usually this means we are about 5 minutes late getting home wich is minor. Usually the accidents here invole a SUV driver who think that their big tires create fuel efficiency.