The following statement may spark waves of negative comments, emails and accusations of blasphemy directed towards your correspondent. There are far worse things for the atmosphere than driving a large SUV.
In fact, activities you partake in over the course of a normal weekend are putting many times more nasty substances into the air than would a V8-powered family hauler.
A common perception is that the use of full-sized SUVs amount to an atmospheric holocaust of unparalleled proportions. Fact is, they aren't that bad at all.
GM makes some of the cleanest on the road--and many of their full-sized models powered by the 5.3-litre V8 come with a "Smart Way" designation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It's like a seal of approval that the vehicle in question is a top-notch environmental performer.
Technologies like BioFuel and Active Fuel Management are employed to help reduce fuel consumption. This, in turn, means less pollution streaming from the tailpipe--but it's only a part of the story. Engines need to run clean as well--and that means having environmentally conscious operation engineered right in.
In order to put some things into perspective, the automaker has offered some comparisons between their vehicle emissions and some common weekend tasks.
Those who complain about dirty, pollution-spewing SUVs may be surprised to learn that they'd produce more emissions by painting a room with a can of water-based paint than by driving a new SUV from Toronto to Vancouver and back. That's a lot of mileage--and not a whole lot of paint.
Of course, paint manufacturers are actively marketing 'green' paints which are better for the environment, but it's an interesting comparison nonetheless.
Do you drive a motorized power toy, like an ATV, watercraft, boat or dirt bike? Here's one for you. Driving something like a snowmobile for a mere hour puts more nastiness into the air than operating many new vehicles for an entire year.
Ever have a campfire? Do the math on this one. Burning a cord of wood equals the same emissions as 10 Chevy SUVs over their entire lifetime. Similar story for brush-clearing fires, burning of leaves and the like. If you've had a few campfires this summer, you've contributed to airborne pollution on a much higher level than your average SUV driver.
Cut the grass lately? Running that lawn mower for an hour cranks out a similar amount of pollution to a 100-mile road trip.
These are just a few fun examples. Of course, it'll always be easy for environmentalists to pick on SUVs because they're large, slow-moving and very common targets. It's interesting nonetheless to think that there is far worse, right in most of our garages.
photo:Philippe Champoux
In fact, activities you partake in over the course of a normal weekend are putting many times more nasty substances into the air than would a V8-powered family hauler.
 |
A common perception is that the use of full-sized SUVs amount to an atmospheric holocaust of unparalleled proportions. Fact is, they aren't that bad at all.
GM makes some of the cleanest on the road--and many of their full-sized models powered by the 5.3-litre V8 come with a "Smart Way" designation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It's like a seal of approval that the vehicle in question is a top-notch environmental performer.
Technologies like BioFuel and Active Fuel Management are employed to help reduce fuel consumption. This, in turn, means less pollution streaming from the tailpipe--but it's only a part of the story. Engines need to run clean as well--and that means having environmentally conscious operation engineered right in.
In order to put some things into perspective, the automaker has offered some comparisons between their vehicle emissions and some common weekend tasks.
Those who complain about dirty, pollution-spewing SUVs may be surprised to learn that they'd produce more emissions by painting a room with a can of water-based paint than by driving a new SUV from Toronto to Vancouver and back. That's a lot of mileage--and not a whole lot of paint.
Of course, paint manufacturers are actively marketing 'green' paints which are better for the environment, but it's an interesting comparison nonetheless.
Do you drive a motorized power toy, like an ATV, watercraft, boat or dirt bike? Here's one for you. Driving something like a snowmobile for a mere hour puts more nastiness into the air than operating many new vehicles for an entire year.
Ever have a campfire? Do the math on this one. Burning a cord of wood equals the same emissions as 10 Chevy SUVs over their entire lifetime. Similar story for brush-clearing fires, burning of leaves and the like. If you've had a few campfires this summer, you've contributed to airborne pollution on a much higher level than your average SUV driver.
Cut the grass lately? Running that lawn mower for an hour cranks out a similar amount of pollution to a 100-mile road trip.
These are just a few fun examples. Of course, it'll always be easy for environmentalists to pick on SUVs because they're large, slow-moving and very common targets. It's interesting nonetheless to think that there is far worse, right in most of our garages.
photo:Philippe Champoux