Mother Earth News: 2010 Best Green Cars

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.motherearthnews.com/2010-Best-Green-Cars.aspx

2010 Best Green Cars

By John Rockhold

For our 2010 Best Green Cars list, we shine the spotlight on six reliable vehicles capable of 40 mpg or better. The winners are the Ford Fusion Hybrid, The Honda Civic Hybrid, the Honda Insight, the Toyota Prius, the Volkswagen Golf TDI and the Volkswagen Jetta TDI. To learn more about the criteria for the 2010 Best Green Cars list, read http://www.motherearthnews.com/The-New-Era-Of-High-MPG-Cars.aspx">The New Era of High-MPG Cars.

Best Green Cars, Data Explained

Price Range: range of manufacturer’s suggested retail price + destination fee for different trim levels
EPA City/Hwy MPG: official mpg estimates for city and highway driving; your mileage may vary
Annual Fuel Cost: assumes $2.85/gallon regular gasoline, $3.00/gallon diesel, with 15,000 miles driven annually at 55% city, 45% highway
Air Pollution Score: from the EPA; zero = most tailpipe emissions, 10 = least
Greenhouse Gas Score: from the EPA; zero = most greenhouse gas emissions, 10 = least
UCS Hybrid Value: from the Union of Concerned Scientists; a measure of the bang for your buck of the hybrid system; best rating is Very High; learn more at http://www.hybridcenter.org/">Hybrid Center.
ACEEE Green Score: from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy; the higher the score, the more eco-friendly the car; highest 2010 score is 57; learn more at http://www.greenercars.org/|ACEEE’s Green Book online>.

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[hunter]

1. I have a green car.

It's over 25 years old and spends most of its time in our driveway as something for lichen to grow on.

[NNadir]

2. As long as you don't start it up, it may qualify as "green." The minute you turn ANY car

engine on, it immediately begins releasing toxic fumes.

[hunter]

3. The lichen growing on it is green, some of it anyways. There's various shades of brown and gray too.

And quite a few spiders who don't seem to mind the occasional 60mph wind storm. They just tuck themselves into the crevices and ride these storms out. When the car is back in the driveway again they come out and rebuild their webs.

[NNadir]

4. I'm sure too that the spiders, besides appreciating the habitat, benefit from the fact

that all the external costs of manufacturing the car have been essentially amortized.

One of the hidden secrets - that seems not to be too popular or appreciated - is that the "greenest" solution (if one may actually speak of "green" in connection with a car, something I personally doubt) is not "all new stuff."

It is making old stuff last.

For some reason, in our consumer culture, predicated on "all new stuff" that simple and relatively obvious fact escapes most people. Everyone wants to talk about "green" new stuff. That is completely wrong.

I regret to confess that I drive. I own and drive a 1996 Honda Civic.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

5. I just don't it with Chevrolet "Hybrid" trucks...I mean...WTH???

CHEVROLET SILVERADO HYBRID, CHEVROLET TAHOe HYBRID C1500 / GMC YUKON HYBRID C1500
MPG:City 21 MPG:Hwy 22
:shrug:

[Kolesar]

6. If you have to tow heavy equipment for your job, you need those trucks

Society needs bobcats and tree shredders to dig foundation trenches and clear trees from the highways.

[NNadir]

11. There's a bit of circular reasoning here.

We "need" cars to clear highways.

Um...um...um...

It actually happens that humanity evolved without highways or cars, although you'd never believe it.

[Kolesar]

12. Rotate, buddy

you still need a "highway" if you are riding a bicycle or pushing a hand cart.

[NNadir]

13. That's interesting. I guess this must be photoshopped.

[hunter]

15. I'd compromise on a federal highway system of two lanes and a wide shoulder.

with new construction of physically separate hiking and biking trails of equal reach.

Anything beyond that would have to be paid for and maintained by a direct tax on automobiles.

The central lanes of existing multi-lane highways might be converted to public transportation.

The plan would be to deliberately end automobile commuting by choking out and devaluing low density housing served by federally funded highways.

Or we can sit around as increasing gasoline prices do exactly this by market forces, but this will be a much more dangerous option as highways decay and suburban communities disintegrate.

[Kolesar]

16. Tsar Peter's peasants built his city by hauling dirt in their shirts

They dug soil with their hands and hauled it off by turning the fronts of their shirts inside out to make a pouch.

To support America's infrastructure, we are always going to need powerful vehicles to tow earth-moving equipment.

[hunter]

17. That's what my two lane highways are for...

Thick concrete highways built to last and support heavy equipment. Not built for automobile joyrides and commuting.

Long distance material and heavy equipment transport would be by freight rail, while passenger traffic and quick delivery packaged goods would be transported on a physically distinct high speed rail system.

The outstanding feature of rail transport is that it can be electric.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. Arguably, there's more benefit using a hybrid power system in a large vehicle

Consider that large "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_electric#Ships">diesel-electric" vehicles (i.e. hybrids) have been in use for more than a century...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_vehicle#Heavy_vehicles

A large hybrid at work:

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

8. How much money

did TME"News" make for endorsing these vehicles? Seriously, that mag is more about building gazebos in suburban back yards than it is about sustainability, environmental issues, or economy. The percentage of ad pages per issue shows that they're in it for th´revenue.

Try BackHome magazine instead. Their publisher and editorial staff hail from TMEN back in the day, when the magazine mattered.

[OKIsItJustMe]

9. Huh?

Any publication I don't like is on the take.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy.aspx

[arachadillo]

10. Hybrid Cars and Climate Change

The EPA maintains an ongoing list of the greenest cars with respect to climate change.
Hybrid Cars and Climate Change

[Dogmudgeon]

14. Military Intelligence. Religious Morality. Green Cars.

Oxy Morons.

--d!