Counterpoint
I Don’t LUV Your SUV
By Christie Aschwanden, 3-14-05
Last week New West managing editor Courtney Lowery asked us not to hate her for driving a gas guzzling SUV. Why? Because, "I love the thing," she says. More specifically, because she loves how the thing makes her feel about herself—"like a total bad ass." To Lowery, and millions of others like her, the SUV is not a means of transportation, it's reflection of their identity.This vehicle-as-identity phenomena is the reason that SUVs have become so popular, as Keith Bradsher explains in his book, High and Mighty SUV's: the World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way. In the book, Bradsher quotes a General Motors engineer saying that SUV owners tend to be especially worried about how people view them and are willing to forgo practicality to attain their desired self-image. The automotive industry's own research, Bradsher writes, suggests that SUV owners are "Apt to be self-centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors and communities."
Which is exactly why I hate SUVs. It's not just the vehicles themselves*, it's all the things they symbolize: The notion that the wants of an individual trump the common good (feeling like a bad ass is more important than clean air or oil independence for the commons), that emotion (the feeling of safety) is more important that fact (Toyota 4Runners kill nearly twice as many people per million vehicles as VW Jettas do), and that image (the owner of this vehicle is rugged and independent) is more important than the consequences (pollution, climate change, national security threats posed by oil dependency, traffic deaths) that stem from the actions (driving an SUV) needed to build that image.
Of course, every SUV owner—Lowery included--insists that none of this applies to her/him. In the SUV-owner's mind, s/he is different from those other awful people who drive SUVs. "No, I don’t think it’s appropriate to drive a Ford Enormous on the freeway everyday to go to work, pick up the kids, get groceries and go to yoga," writes Lowery. But she does find it perfectly ok to drive the thing to work (albeit with a tinge of guilt when she muscles by those zero-emission bike commuters), because her 4Runner has shift-on-the-fly, which allows her to speed her way to work on snowy days. Apparently it's ok to drive the SUV to work, as long as it's on Broadway, rather than the freeway.
Call it the great SUV disconnect. It's the twisted logic that leads people who did not vote for Bush at the ballot box to vote for his mideast policy at the gas pump. Granted, it's impossible to attain eco-friendly perfection, and everyone must decide for themselves where to draw the line. But to take on an air of superiority, as one commenter to Lowery's post did when he says that his SUV's gas mileage, 18 mpg, "sucks, I'll admit, but it's not in the same league as the quasi-RVs, the Expeditions and the Suburbans and the Yukons, which tend to get around 12" is akin to the 250-pound woman who insists that her weight isn't causing her health problems, because she's not as fat as her 300-pound neighbor. The difference is that the obese person is putting her own health at risk, while the SUV driver endangers the health of the planet and all its inhabitants.
If Lowery really wants to drop her guilt, she should earn the right to do so by riding her bike to work and leaving the 4Runner in the garage until a blowing snow storm makes the shift-on-the-fly a need, not a want. At this point, the SUV owners among you may be thinking "a-ha! Now I know who put that 'weapon of mass destruction' sticker on my Suburban." Forget it. After the 2004 election, I realized that stubborn facts cannot overcome emotion in America today. As much as I'd like to think that good citizenship should be incentive enough for people to behave responsibly, I'm not holding my breath. But I'm not worried either. Gas prices will soon be punishment enough for the gas guzzlers.
*The reasons to hate SUVs are too numerous to mention here (that is another rant), but are discussed in depth elsewhere, such as this anti-SUV site and Malcolm Gladwell's fine New Yorker story from last year.
[End of article]
Hate is a little too strong for me to use, however I'm definitely leaning toward Christie's direction. I think it's also important to look beyond the most frequent argument against SUV's, mainly their low gas milage. Some of these machines are literally 2-4 times the size of a small passeneger car, thus they use 2-4 times the natural resources as well.
It's not just SUV either. I'm sure you have all seen pick-up's gradually getting larger over the years. Even Honda, the most admirable of big car companies, has come out with some giant pick up - the ridgeback?
Christie makes some valid and good points here, (many of which I agree with) but I think the discussion about “what you drive is who you are� is a bit trite. Everyone buys a car that is somehow an extension of themselves, yes. But, to judge someone’s ethics and social responsibility solely on what she drives is superficial and knee-jerk. The points raised in my column were meant to highlight that we are actually NOT defined by what we drive and I for one, do not want to be. I’m a responsible consumer and I care about the environment on a very personal and emotional level. I don’t believe that is undermined by something as one-dimensional as what kind of car I drive. I understand that I am labeling myself already by driving an SUV (that really doesn't get that bad of gas mileage) and then doing so again by trying to justify it. But, my point is to think beyond those stereotypes. I bought my car, yes, because it’s fun, but also because where I live and where I grew up, you either drive a four-wheel-drive or you rely on somebody else (who does have a four-wheel-drive) to get you places and I was sick of having to have my Dad or brother drive me around or haul something for me. I live in a small apartment in downtown Missoula specifically so I can walk to essentially wherever I need to be. My rig rarely moves during the weekends, but I do drive to work because, well, it’s a damn long way out of town. Now, if I were independently wealthy, I would have a nice little car I could drive to work and save the 4Runner (in the garage I don't have) for when it’s emergency-travel only conditions (which around here is nearly all winter). But I’m not; so I bought the all-purpose vehicle that I could use in a blizzard, take full of camping stuff and stinky dogs to the trailhead, or on assignment. (I’ve many a times been up on forest fire lines covering important public policy decisions because I was the reporter who could get there.) The point is, sometimes there are real reasons people drive four-wheel-drives – we’re all not self-indulgent pricks with absolutely no regard for the environment or social responsibility. Instead, all of us (meaning humans, not SUV drivers) have complexities that go beyond labels and political correctness. That is precisely what I intend to highlight in my “The Human Landscape� column spot and I think the general characterizations of anyone is counter to that idea. But I realize that to discuss issues in this manner it means getting personal and opening myself up to sideswipes, so touché.
Comment By derekvw, 3-14-05I'd hardly call Christie's response to Courtney's article a "sideswipe". Courtney should literally be thinking about these issues every time she starts her 4runner. However she rationalizes it (leaving it home on weekends?!), she is driving something that unnecessarily wastes energy, pollutes, and puts others at risk. Live far away from your job? Be a truly responsible consumer and get a Prius and some snow tires.
Having said all that, I have to confess that I own, and occasionally drive, a 1994 4x4 Toyota pickup that gets a *pathetic* 19mpg. I don't feel like a "badass" when I drive it; in fact I usually feel like an asshole. Sure, when I'm hauling my wife's sculptures around, or helping someone move, then there's no problem, and I pass my own internal acceptability test. But I would never consider regular commuting in this thing (and never in a million years would I flip off a Hummer while driving it! - WTF? *You're* in an SUV too, what message do you possibly think they're getting?).
So, how do I live with myself? Well, I try to only drive it as a last resort, ride my bike as much as I can, and use my 65 mpg motorcycle for lazy days.
Saying "not every SUV driver is evil" doesn't make it okay. There are real consequences to what we do - whether or not we delude ourselves.
So, lets face it, folks, we are all some walking contradictions. We can all aspire to social responsibility and environmental friendlyness (which is a very good thing) but we do not exist in a vaccume - as citizens of this country and of this culture we are bound to make some, even just a few, even just one, socially unresponsible decision every now and then. it is inevitable. just like the comming of Starbucks to Missoula, which I actually just got done writing a little rant about but you know what? as much as I hate that particular corporation, I buy products from many other corporations. We all do. And we all justify our behavior, catch yourself doing it next time (so how do I live with MY self...?). SO. What is to be done? For myself, I pick my battles, I try to live as simply as I can (so that others may simply live, of course) and i'm trying to put away the stick that I have been beating myself over the head with because I broke down and bought a coke the other day ( you know, the whole boycott thing...). And I try not to take myself to seriously ;)
Annie