Vail Daily Bashing Prius

[Bill Merchant]

In Eagle County, CO New Prius Fleet-Employee concern, getting hit from behind & battery in the Prius Technical Discussion Forum, Hobbit posted a link to an MSNBC story about how Eagle County has bought a fleet of Prius to save the environment, gas, and a lot of money. The local paper, the Vail Daily, covered the story as county employees being afraid to drive the new beasts.

I sent the Eagle County administrator a link to Toyota's Emergency Responder Prius Information page and copied the editor at the Vail Daly so they would understand the Prius is a safe car and has many safety features to protect both occupants and emergency responders in case of an accident.

Today I got an email:

Thanks Bill! I did refer employees to the info you sent. For some
reason, our local paper keeps printing nasty letters about the Prius. I
encourage you and other Prius owners on the message board to email
letters to the editor to set the record straight. The address is here:
editor@vaildaily.com

Here was today's nasty letter:

Prius' faults

Who is the idiot that thinks that 20 Priuses in one small county are
good for the environment?

Several recent studies point out many of the Prius' faults.

Under the revised Environmental Protection Agency estimates, the Prius
can no longer boast 60 mpg but a more real-world 45 mpg.

The nickel used in the Prius batteries is an ecological nightmare. "The
nickel is mined and smelted at a plant in Sudbury, Ontario. This plant
has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment
that NASA has used the 'dead zone' around the plant to test moon rovers.

"The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles. The plant is
the source of all the nickel found in a Prius' battery and Toyota
purchases 1,000 tons annually." (Refer to
bookrags.com/research/sudbury-ontario-enve-02 for this quote.)

The nickel has to travel via cargo ship to Europe, China, Japan and then
the U.S. on its way to becoming a battery for the Prius.

The toxicity doesn't go away, and there is no way of recycling these
batteries. Chevy Aveos would have been a much greener choice and would not have
wasted all of my tax dollars.

Some politicians just can't see through the purple haze to get a look at
the big picture.

John Sicking [/b]

I know we've all been through these discussions many times. Maybe if the Daily Veil gets emails from all over the country supporting the Prius choice and debunking the distortions and lies put forth, they may reconsider their position.

Happy email-to-the-editor writing!

[nerfer]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bill Merchant @ Mar 30 2007, 07:55 PM) [snapback]415214[/snapback]</div>

In Eagle County, CO New Prius Fleet-Employee concern, getting hit from behind & battery in the Prius Technical Discussion Forum, Hobbit posted a link to an MSNBC story about how Eagle County has bought a fleet of Prius to save the environment, gas, and a lot of money. The local paper, the Vail Daily, covered the story as county employees being afraid to drive the new beasts.

I sent the Eagle County administrator a link to Toyota's Emergency Responder Prius Information page and copied the editor at the Vail Daly so they would understand the Prius is a safe car and has many safety features to protect both occupants and emergency responders in case of an accident.

Today I got an email:
I know we've all been through these discussions many times. Maybe if the Daily Veil gets emails from all over the country supporting the Prius choice and debunking the distortions and lies put forth, they may reconsider their position.

Happy email-to-the-editor writing!
[/b]

Who has written to the editor? They're just publishing what readers are sending, so I don't think they need a huge deluge from rabid fans, that may do more harm than good. But obviously a counterpoint needs to be made, and I'm ready to write back if no one (other than assumedly Bill) has.

[Jimtak]

Having spent a night in the Eagle County jail back in the 60's - we had evacuated a climbing injury down to the highway and were sitting along the roadside waiting for a friend to pick us up after accompanying the ambulance to the hospital. Sheriff came along, didn't like what he saw (bunch of long haired, Indian looking backpackers), and hjad us all transported to the poky. Didn't care to listen to any story, we were loitering.
So I figure the power that be in that section of CO. might just be from the same geen pool.
My Bad - What would Buddha say?

[malibucarl]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MisterT @ Apr 3 2007, 01:45 PM) [snapback]417107[/snapback]</div>

Having spent a night in the Eagle County jail back in the 60's - we had evacuated a climbing injury down to the highway and were sitting along the roadside waiting for a friend to pick us up after accompanying the ambulance to the hospital. Sheriff came along, didn't like what he saw (bunch of long haired, Indian looking backpackers), and hjad us all transported to the poky. Didn't care to listen to any story, we were loitering.
So I figure the power that be in that section of CO. might just be from the same geen pool.
My Bad - What would Buddha say?
[/b]

Hi Mr.T,
Couldn't agree more. Worked in Aspen one ski season after college in the early 60s. While great fun there sure were two DIFFERENT class of folks. MONEY and the other. Must be MUCH worse now (think Saudi prince 55K sq.ft. pad).
Would not be surprised if Mr. Sicking owns a Hummer.
Carl

[Godiva]

I don't think sending letters to the Vail paper is going to do any good. I also think they bloated the concern of one (or no) employees into an article.

I suspect that a large advertiser for the Vail paper is an auto dealer that is putting pressure on the paper to turn people away from hybrids and blast the Prius in particular. Even if all of this were found out, there would be no way to expose the paper as it's probably the only paper in town and they're not about to expose themselves.

[Prius The First]

I lived in Glenwood Springs, next county to the west, back in the 70's. Even spent a few hours in the Garfield County jail, but that is another story.

Eagle back then was a stop on US Highway 6 - this was way before I-70 was complete. The western slope of Colorado has a bit of a different mind set for sure. Even with the HUGE growth the I-70 corridor has seen I think the mindset is still rural "gotta have my SUV / Truck"

I think a better placed letter would be one congradulating (sp) Eagle County for moving into the future.

[Bill Merchant]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prius The First @ Apr 3 2007, 03:23 PM) [snapback]417278[/snapback]</div>

I think a better placed letter would be one congratulating Eagle County for moving into the future.[/b]

That's exactly what I did when I read the first thread. I'm sure you all read closely, but John Sicking works for the county (italics means he was quoting the paper, not his voice). He is glad the county decided to buy "green" cars and was happy to get the ERG to refute the scare the Vail Daily was trying to spark.

Godiva is probably right.

[tripp]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MisterT @ Apr 3 2007, 11:45 AM) [snapback]417107[/snapback]</div>

My Bad - What would Buddha say?
[/b]

He'd say, "I pity the fool!"

Eagle county snorts far to much coke to think clearly. The Western Slope is a strange mix of progressive folks and conservative types. I ran into this article a couple of weeks ago and just shook my head. I might have posted a comment but I think I just started one and when was so annoyed I didn't submit it. The misinformation and bogus arguments (our favorite nickel mine in Sudbury comes to mind) is tiring but on the other hand sales of the Prius are on the up and up. 19156 sold in March alone (US only). At the end of the day the merits of the car will have the final say.

[alexstarfire]

I'm gonna go off the editors' own words and say: Who is the idiot that thinks one newspaper from a small county makes a difference?