Prius & Politics

You are a bit confused.

Believe in your fav religion.

Understand Global Warming.

 

First off, welcome.

I'm a liberal who could've written the same first paragraph you did.

I wish I could claim my primary motivation in buying a Prius was the reduced emissions---the primary "politically-related" reason to buy one, since there are other high-MPG alternatives---but this would be a lie. Even now, when I know I'll probably drive nothing but Priuses (or derivatives thereof), I wouldn't feel right in trying to appropriate this moral high ground.

Truth is, I've always driven about double the average miles, and my frugality has impelled me to seek the 50-MPG Holy Grail for the last 30 years, starting with the 1977 Civic, and including a 50-MPG VW diesel that belched soot when I floored it.

As for Global Warming, as a former history teacher, the jury is still out for me. The evidence is strong, but climatic data is too sketchy to say we're creating a new epoch, and at that, one that might have otherwise occured, anyway.

That said, I've become much more sensitive to oil dependence and various forms of pollution over the last 30 years. Thus it would be folly NOT to trumpet the virtues of this startling new technology. I think more conservatives and liberals share this assessment than almost any other, except for national security concerns.