2008 Woodie Awards
Americans want a better world
Tiffany Coleman
Issue date: 1/23/06 Section: Forum
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On a recent Thursday evening I found myself hiding in a Royall Hall classroom watching a leftist film on the impending end of our affluent way of life. It occurred to me, "Who really wants to live that way anyway?" I realized that while the coming apocalypse has been talked about for many centuries, the realistic "doomsday" might be even less real than I originally thought. So I took my little conservative limbs and went on a wild hunt for those evil statistics, otherwise called the truth.
It would seem the truth is that many Americans, however ignorant to the end of cheap oil, are already moving toward more efficient usage. The projections given by the corporate executives are still pessimistic. We have to realize they are all eating out of the same petroleum-filled dish and cannot see the truth before their eyes.
"For hybrids to have a double digit market share," said J.D. Power's Jeff Schuster in an Oct. 2 Newsweek article, "we'd essentially have to run out of fossil fuel."
We also have to realize that he is citing a projected 2 percent increase in SUV production and sales in the next five years. Strangely, the projection shows hybrid cars coming in at around 4 percent in the same period, an almost 3 percent increase. Seems to me hybrid purchases are on the rise, even if SUVs are still trucking away.
Moreover, we all know that Americans speak loudest with their dollars. A 3 percent rise in any other industry would speak more than this recent statistic. Yet, we are still focusing on the gas-guzzlers. Americans show their willingness to make changes to better the environment in other ways as well. A recent Yale study concluded many Americans are ready to further decrease their fossil fuel dependence.
"This poll underscores the fact that Americans want not only energy independence but also to find ways to break the linkage between energy use and environmental harm, from local air pollution to global warming," said Gus Speth, dean of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (Apollo Alliance, June 2005).
It would seem the truth is that many Americans, however ignorant to the end of cheap oil, are already moving toward more efficient usage. The projections given by the corporate executives are still pessimistic. We have to realize they are all eating out of the same petroleum-filled dish and cannot see the truth before their eyes.
"For hybrids to have a double digit market share," said J.D. Power's Jeff Schuster in an Oct. 2 Newsweek article, "we'd essentially have to run out of fossil fuel."
We also have to realize that he is citing a projected 2 percent increase in SUV production and sales in the next five years. Strangely, the projection shows hybrid cars coming in at around 4 percent in the same period, an almost 3 percent increase. Seems to me hybrid purchases are on the rise, even if SUVs are still trucking away.
Moreover, we all know that Americans speak loudest with their dollars. A 3 percent rise in any other industry would speak more than this recent statistic. Yet, we are still focusing on the gas-guzzlers. Americans show their willingness to make changes to better the environment in other ways as well. A recent Yale study concluded many Americans are ready to further decrease their fossil fuel dependence.
"This poll underscores the fact that Americans want not only energy independence but also to find ways to break the linkage between energy use and environmental harm, from local air pollution to global warming," said Gus Speth, dean of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (Apollo Alliance, June 2005).
