Prius does more environmental damage than Hummer

[Surfer]

http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/p....asp?NewsID=188

Check out the above link!! What are your thoughts on this?

Aloha for now

[YoDaddyAlex]

even if what the article says is true, the point isn't only being environmentally friendly, but getting off reliance of big oil dominated by oil wealthy terrorists supporters in the middle east. Just another jab attempt by people who continue to try to uphold the status quo

[Surfer]

Good Point Yodaddy.......

[IsrAmeriPrius]

This has been discussed in several threads in the recent past. Here is the newest:

Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage?

[MegansPrius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Surfer @ Mar 30 2007, 06:44 PM) [snapback]415133[/snapback]</div>

Good Point Yodaddy.......
[/b]

The original article is an opinion piece (i.e., no fact-checking) for a college newspaper that evidently desperately needs attention. In February, The Recorder published "Rape only hurts if you fight it" and now in March, "Prius outdoes hummer." This newspaper and this article are garbage.

1. Regarding new EPA mileage estimates, Demorro claims the Chevy Aveo's mileage puts it within "spitting distance" of the Prius. The new EPA combined mileage put the Chevy Aveo at 26 mpg, the Toyota Prius at 46 mpg. So I guess 20 miles more per gallon is "spitting distance."

2. The "Dust-to-dust" study is from a marketing firm, not a science journal. It arrives at an artificially high cost for the Prius by assigning it an arbitrary lifespan of 100k miles, and a Hummer 300k miles. There's Prius being used as cabs that have 200k on them now: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8839690/

And, insofar as a car lasting, what car do you expect to repair less? A Toyota Prius or a GM Hummer? You can check Consumer Reports for the answer to that one. A good analysis of the flaws in dust-to-dust is available at:
http://www.truedelta.com/blog/?p=48

3. The Sudbury info is seriously outdated, and the comment about moon buggies (like, when did Nasa test moon buggies — early 1970’s) ought to have given the author a clue. Sudbury was polluted by a century of mining (1870 on). In fact, some of Sudbury’s nickel went into making the Statue of Liberty. Currently, the mine is owned by INCO (not Toyota), and produces 100,000 tons of nickel a year, of which Toyota buys 1% (1000 tons). Blaming Toyota for the pollution at Sudbury is ludicrous. Nickel, by the way, is primarily used to make stainless steel. The Mail on Sunday newspaper, which ran the story the college article is a thin re-write of (visible here http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/a...in_page_id=1770 ), used a stock photo you can buy online taken in 1994 to illustrate the pollution (visible here http://www.photoboy.com/bin/Cklb?vmo=1173985067754 ). There were, of course, no Prius in existence or being manufactured in 1994.

Furthermore, Sudbury is no longer this polluted, as INCO and the city have planted over 8 million trees there since 1979. The best history online of the Sudbury devastation/reforestation comes from GM Canada -- that's GM, maker of the Hummer, ahem, writing about how Sudbury was polluted and how it has come back. Really, one should blame Chicago more than Toyota, as Sudbury's trees were all cut down in 1871 to help rebuild Chicago after the fire. GM provides telling photos of some of the reclamation from 1979 to present.
http://www.gmcanada.com/inm/gmcanada/engli...aily/Sep22.html

Canadian news recently broadcast a show on Sudbury's regreening:
http://www.cbc.ca/clips/rm-hi/mackin...dbury070312.rm

The acid rain problem David Martin of Greenpeace is talking about is the situation pre 1972. INCO on regreening and SO2 emissions
http://www.inco.com/development/community/...ry/default.aspx

[JimN]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Surfer @ Mar 30 2007, 05:39 PM) [snapback]415130[/snapback]</div>

What are your thoughts on this?

Aloha for now
[/b]

Surfer, here are my thoughts. If you are a newbie try doing some research before you believe everything on the web. If you are a troll, I say, "Don't feed the trolls--unless you give them poisoned pet food."

[Stev0]

My thoughts? It's another one for the list.

[MrK]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Surfer @ Mar 30 2007, 03:39 PM) [snapback]415130[/snapback]</div>

http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/p....asp?NewsID=188

Check out the above link!! What are your thoughts on this?

Aloha for now
[/b]

If it costs $3.25/mile to build and operate a Prius, then, in its 100,000 mile [sic] lifetime, the cost is $325,000.

Let's presume that I paid $30,000 for the Prius (I didn't). Based on the new EPA-46 mpg figures, it will take me 2,174 gallons of gas to drive those 100,000 miles. At 4.00 per gallon (it's not that high--yet--here in St. Louis), I'll spend $8,696 for gas. If I spend $150 every 5,000 miles for an oil change and maintanence, then I'll spend another $3,000 in 100,000 miles. A couple sets of tires will probably set me back another $1,500. And I think I'll buy another Prius (at $30,000) to leave at home for parts, and I'll allow another $30,000 for labor to exhange parts if and when something breaks.

So now, counting all my costs, I'll only have expended $103,196. I guess Toyota is subsidizing the remainder of the $325,000, just to get me to drive the Prius. Thanks, Toyota!!

[hill]

My Thoughts: Can we please require new members to pass a "Search Tool Competancy" test? :P

[PriusBoyAZ]

The fact that they claim the Hummer lasts 300,000 and the Prius lasts 100,000 miles is laughable.

It's unfortunately, however, that these types of articles will get coverage in the conservative press. The American public, by and large, does not possess superior critical thinking skills. If we lived in Europe, I'd be comfortable saying that nobody would believe this article, but here in the US I think too many people will take it as fact. Americans like to be spoon fed, and look for magic pill answers to everything. I'm not speaking about people on this forum -- owning a Prius shows that you are a notch above the rest intellectually -- but when it comes to widespread adoption of efficient vehicles, articles like this hurt.