I’m pretty sure the tree won’t complain about the co2 rise 
I’m sorry. I should have not paraphrased and I should have referenced my quote. This is the quote I was trying to remember. It’s from the blog “Stuff White People Like.” It’s in the Toyota Prius section. It’s a comment on the Prius entry and the source of the quote is a user with the name redgreen.
redgreen on February 15, 2008 at 2:25 pm
“I saw some white dope driving one of these with a `4UEARTH’ plate. Prius drivers confuse doing less damage with doing benefit. It’s like switching from beating your kid with a regular hammer to beating him with a rubber hammer and then thinking you’re doing the kid a helpful service. All you’re doing is slightly decreasing the massive and unnecessary damage you’re doing; this is not a meritorious behavior; you don’t deserve a pat on the back.”
Still, extremely funny in any variation.
Reminds me of the SouthPark Episode where there move to californee way and buy hybrid cars, and then everyone in South Park buys hybrid cars to, and it drops the smog, but then there is a huge increase of smug from every ones stuck up “Im superior now that I drive a hybrid” attitude.
You should check that one out.
Stop using logic and common sense, you’re scaring the children.
Next thing you know, you’re going to claim that people with plug-in Priuses who claim to get 100mpg are somehow being dishonest.
Priuses are just a way for rich people to pat ourselves on our backs. If we really wanted to reduce our transportation carbon footprint, we’d never drive alone for distances that can easily be covered with human powered vehicles. Unfortunately, the common perception still seems to be that bicycles are for people who can’t afford “real” transportation like a car.
Priuses are a step in the right direction. They’re certainly better than driving SUVs (even small ones
…but they don’t “Save our environment”. They just destroy it more slowly.
I like what George Carlin has to say about “Saving the planet”
The step is way too small.
I don’t think a Prius is necessarily always better than driving a small SUV. A small SUV can be had for much less money and can be more useful than a Prius. An owner of a small SUV could offset his lower gas mileage of a small SUV by bicycling all short distances and use way less gas than someone who only transports himself with a Prius under the guise of “being green”.
Assuming a new Car (I’m guessing you weren’t, but anyways…)
Kia Sportage $16725 (Manual/No AC) 20/25 (assume 23 MPG combined)
Kia Sportage $19720 (Auto with AC) 19/25 (assume 23 MPG combined)
Toyota Prius $21100 (Auto with AC) 46 combined MPG
If you drive 15k miles a year and gas averages $4 a gallon (think it’s going to get cheaper?) the Prius saves you $1300 annually, using half the fuel.
I think it’s a pretty strong advantage. The bicycling point is moot since driving a Prius doesn’t prevent you from riding.
Of course if you think driving a Prius makes you green, someone should still smack the smug, ignorant grin off your face, driving a Prius doesn’t automatically make a person a smug, pseudo-environmentalist.
…or course, I drive a Honda Element (small SUV).
I was thinking used. I’ve heard that older, cheaper Priuses eat through tires (which is not very eco-friendly). The newer Priuses sell for too much used because they’re all the rage, apparently.
And, you didn’t account for the increased utility gain of having an SUV. 
Bah, whatever. My wife an I are down to one cheap small car again. I’m getting along quite well without an SUV or second car.
I have an old, oil-burning, gas sucking pickup that I drive about once every two weeks. I hardly use any hydrocarbons with it. I cycle and walk a lot. I didn’t feel like I was making a big enough carbon footprint. I felt there was a carbon footprint gap. I had carbon footprint envy. So I started burning old tires in my backyard.
I don’t get it. I get the idea of making fun of Prius owners’ seemingly holier-than-thou attitude. This is not the same as them actually having such an attitude in real life. I’d love to have a Prius. I’d feel great, and happily hold up a “yes” sign, because trips to the pump would be much more pleasant. It’s not like I’d think I was no longer using fossil fuels, duh! Maybe people are confusing perceived smugness with a sense of annoyance that you know those people are paying a lot less for gas, proportionately, than you are. You’re just jealous.
Small? Utilitarian yes, but larger than most of the SUV models on the American market…
Utility only applies if you use it. For example: carting the kids to and from the soccer game doesn’t count. Only filling the minivan with unicycles a few times a year doesn’t count. In the past, I really needed the minivan because I moved a lot of unicycles (or other stuff) pretty frequently. In recent years, my need for so much space has dropped off to where it’s a much more occasional thing. Now most of my driving takes place with too much car… which brings me back to the Prius-envy…
Why doesn’t carting kids to the soccer game count? Is it better to pile them in the trunk of a Ford Escort? 
Oh, so that’s it. Thanks. I wondered what that alien sensation was.
in the words of a friend of mine, “I own a large forrest, so I have to drive a big car to be carbon neutral”
Yes, small. It’s not a Ridgeline, or even a Pilot. My Element is a 4 cylinder SUV 2x4 with the wheelbase of a civic (based off the civic platform actually)
Of course, I use the heck out of it. It’s perfect for my lifestyle.
If you’re just taking the kids and not loads of equipment, all you need is the requisite number of seats. These seats don’t need to be in a heavy SUV with oversized wheels to get you through the smooth paved roads to the game. I was picturing mom driving the Expedition for this. Even my minivan is lighter than that, but it would still be overkill for simple people-transportation. 
It’s a great car for your needs. Yours is the only one I’ve ever ridden in and I didn’t appreciate those things until I saw the inside. But it’s still not that small. You compared it to the larger vehicles from the same company, but most of the SUVs out there are still smaller. Yours probably has more space inside than most of the bigger SUVs too!
Don’t get me wrong, small SUVs probably don’t fit Cokers very well. One, yes. The ones for your three friends, plus the three friends, probably not. Back in the old days, you could get a 40" Tom Miller big wheel (the common size) into your VW Bug. It fit nicely through the door and into the back seat. But not so my 45". Then I had a 1979 Subaru wagon. It fit diagonally in the back, but only with the back seat folded down. Then it took up most of the space. Finally I got a VW Bus and I had room, and still a 4 cylinder engine!
i think we should forget buring all those hydrocarbons, which create dangerous chemicals such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, and start finding ways to make safe, easy ways to use hydrogen fuel cells. the only draw back at the moment with these is storing hydrogen, because it is very explosive. solar cars are crap but hydrogen power sounds cool. then the crude oil can be left for the plastics industry.
but heres something to think about
what is worse, a 1L Smart car, that can carry 2 people, or a 2.5L landrover 12 seater? the landrover would be better and can use bus lanes!, so there is less sitting in traffic burning unnessesary fuel.
and a trans-atlantic flight to new yourk burns enough fuel at take off to run a 4x4 for about 10000 miles, and there are loads of these flights everyday, but the carbon emisions are blamed at 4x4’s! is it the cars we should be cutting back on?
higher gas prices are bad for the average family, because more of your income goes to gas and food with higher gas prices and alot of families are struggling to make ends meet as it is.
but they are good for new innovations, like an electric car or fuel cell car.
Hoping my car holds out until the Chevy Volt or similar car is on the market. unwise I’m buy a used compact.
We own a Honda Pilot as a family car and a VW Jetta to get me to work. Biking would be great, if it wouldn’t take an extra two hours per day and I didn’t watch people on their cell phones driving in the bike lane all the time. I save my biking for the trails. It’s safer!
Where does hydrogen come from? Oh yeah, electrolysis of water. So where does the electricity for the electrolysis come from? Hydrogen is just an inefficient way to store energy.
swich to solar, geothermal, hydro electric, wind, tidal powered generators to replace fossil fuled ones and the nuclear energy. each of these may have downsides but it is greener energy and is much better for the enviroment and future life. as the proverb goes “if we do not change the direction we are heading, we may end up where we are going” pointless as it may sound it works with what i am trying to say.