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Aug 8, 2007

Then why do you drive a gasoline burning car ?



Really , seriously. If you hate the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries , then why do you drive an oil burning car ?

This is the perfect example of a typical asshat Prius driver in LA. If you want to not rely on OPEC, then you drive a different kind of vehicle. You drive a Biodiesel ,you drive an electric car. Even an E85 car at 85% ethanol, and 15% gasoline is better than a Prius. A Prius , while it may get better gas mileage than many vehicles , probably does not , when driven how people like Al Gore III like to drive them.

Get over yourself and your Prius , you are not saving the earth.

7 comments:

Giancarlo Pawelec said...

HERE HERE!!!

You make a very good point man. The fact is that most people are simply bought by either marketing or the "buzz word" of the day - i.e. hybrids are better - unfortunately, without going deeper into figuring out what exactly makes them better... which as you stated, isn't in actuality.

Cheers,
GC.

Hubert said...

Well said! What a hypocrite. I bet the owner does not even know what he is talking about...

Snazzum said...

i don't like pretentious people either, but what's so bad about people driving more fuel efficient cars, regardless of the reason? my friends parents traded in their old Grand Cherokee for a Prius. Sure, they bought it for the "oh, look at me" factor. but then again, that's no more hypocrite than than the Hummer H2's, Escalades, and other gas guzzler owners buying purely for the "bling" and "i have a bigger truck than you" factor. If people are going to be vain, i rather they do it in a hybrid than a 'Slade.

also, most consumers don't know about biodiesels (let alone converting them) or even E85 cars, let alone find one to buy or (depending on your location) to find service stations that carries it.

reeses pieces said...

Let me start by saying that your blog is fine. It is your opinion, but it is the photo of our car and plate that I object to.

As the new owner of this car I think it is rude to post a picture of our plate on your site!
I do not think I am saving the planet by driving this car. But I do think that you have to start somewhere.

“If you want to not rely on OPEC, then you drive a different kind of vehicle. You drive a Biodiesel ,you drive an electric car. Even an E85 car at 85% ethanol, and 15% gasoline is better than a Prius”

Oddly, I feel we have to defend our choice since you have decided to post our plate on your site, but I don’t see any reason why I can’t put something on our car that supports our opinions without our photos of our car and plate pasted on your blog. I recently paid to transfer this personalized plate in the purchase of this car because I do believe there is too much power in OPEC and also because we thought it was funny. Believe me, I have seen worse bumper stickers that I do not agree with but, I move on and let someone have their opinion.

After a long search we decided the Prius would be the best fit for our needs. With this car added to our family we are already making a BIG difference in our daily gasoline consumption. It was a costly decision to do (adding another car) but we were looking for the best bang for our buck in HELPING reduce our emissions and to offset our gasoline costs. Yes, it is okay to do both! We drive at least 80 miles a day. And for now, this is a practical way to help our family eliminate some of our “personal” dependency on gasoline. In addition, we have wind and solar energy in place at our home and we are an officially registered Power Station for So Cal Edison that feeds our unused energy back to the grid for use by people like you on a daily basis. We are not hippies nor are we energy snobs. We are just tax paying citizens that just are trying to do our part to make a difference. And it just feels good to be able to do what you can.

As the new owner, I think it is wrong for you to post our plate on your website just because you don’t agree with it. It is a state a licensed id and I’d appreciate you letting our family have our opinion and at least remove the picture from your site.

I assume you never asked the former owner his thoughts before you posted his plate on your site in 2007, but I welcome any dialog here. At the very least I believe you have “oversimplified” our view for the hate of a plate and that just isn’t fair.

Reese

Sean Morris said...

My response to Reese. I took that photo of that vehicle in a public place, and I am using it under "fair use".

I will not remove it, because it shows the typical Prius driver mentality of what oil dependency actually is. Where does the US get the majority of its oil ? Its not OPEC if you guessed that.

Go Hug a Tree.

Merritt Johnson Morris said...

There is no need to ask permission in posting a photograph of a licene plate. Tyndago took the photo personally so he has the ability to do with the photo as he chooses. The Prius in question appeared in public thus it is subject to fair use restrictions. The image is intended for comment, critisism and discussion so there is no liability in leaving the image posted.

Honestly, if reeses does not want people discussion their license plate, then they should really go get a new plate. Now I'm really tempted to give the image to Autoblog Green...

reeses pieces said...

Well Sean, thanks for posting my response.

I do appreciate getting a voice on your blog. That is fair enough. And Merritt, you are totally right, legally I have no rights to the plate. It was issued by the DMV with no copyright. I just thought it needed defending and I thought I would ask if Sean would remove the picture. AND you both are right again, it is fair game and I am glad that my plate has inspired/provoked such conversation. I have no objection to the discussion of my newly acquired plate. And I enjoy blogs of all types. Which is why I originally decided to participate in this one. Although I try not to assume a persons personality from what they drive, I do hear your points.

To answer your original question: I still drive a "gasoline burning car" (with a part time electric engine) because it is practical to me by saving me some money on gas and it greatly reduces my emissions by affording me to leave my 4 wheel drive truck parked at home several days a week.

Diesel as an option for greater mpg, I didn't choose because it is expensive and not really a cleaner choice. And Biodiesel fuel in diesel engines are most commonly use a mix of fuels with only 20% Bio (B20) without any engine modifications.

And I do understand where our gasoline comes from and what it takes to get here. I merely dislike the way in which oil is valued and dispensed (talk about “bringing back ’74” Sean… as a kid I remember the embargo on gas in the early ‘70’s and OPEC’s role in that) Unfortunately the fact is that since then our cars could have and should have been made cleaner so as consumers, we should have more choices to make better personal choices for ourselves. Alternative fuels still have a way to go and more research needs to be done to find better solutions to make them feasible.

For me, to eliminate emissions completely (and if I could afford it) I’d much prefer the likes of a Tesla Roadster … 0-60 in about 4 seconds… and runs on NO gas at all. But for now common all-electric motors are regulated with governors to make them street legal at speeds as low as 25- 35mph.

Anyway, thanks for reading again and for presenting your views and please, keep on talking. Maybe then vehicles like the Tesla Roadster won’t be so far away… I will go hug my tree now. LOL

Reese