Good news for our tiny blue planet about us stubborn Americans as reported across the pond by The Financial Times by a reporter in Toronto:
Americans are turning away from gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles, luxury cars and pick-up trucks in favour of smaller, more fuel-efficient models, judging by May sales figures.
Most likely it's gas prices, not concerns over global warming, that are driving this trend, but the outcome is the same. So what exactly ARE people buying?
The shift to smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles resulted in cars and crossovers making up 52 per cent of Ford's retail sales in May, compared with 30 per cent three years ago. Crossovers look like SUVs but are built like cars, giving them better fuel consumption.
Cars.com, a car-shopping website, reported that three hybrid models (the Toyota Camry hybrid, Ford Escape hybrid and Toyota Prius) recorded big increases in searches last month, with jumps of 52-60 per cent. Prius sales almost trebled in May to a new record.
Not everyone can drive a Smart Car, I know, but just about all of us can do better. Is it just a phenomenon of my little town that kids never walk home from school? We're all so much more afraid of the boogeyman than when we were kids and I think the price paid for this mindset is the gas we burn and the calories they don't. Instead the daily parade of SUVs start idling twenty minutes before the bell after which each child gets into each car. For about 15 minutes of every weekday, the streets in town are clogged with these tiny commuters in giant SUVs. When the weather is nice like this, it all seems a little silly and unhealthy all around.
Well, I've got a little related programming note for you: Set your DVR Tonight at 8:00 p.m. CNN's Special Investigative Unit, "We were warned: Out of Gas.". I've seen it and it's quite an eye-opener.
It is September 2009. A Category 5 hurricane roars through Houston, destroying oil refineries, drilling platforms and pipelines--the complex system that provides a quarter of our nation's daily fuel supply. Three days later, terrorists attack two key oil installations in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest supplier. In the days and weeks that follow, gasoline prices hit record highs, food prices soar as trucks cannot afford to make deliveries, and Americans begin to realize that their very way of life is in peril.
In We Were Warned: Tomorrow's Oil Crisis, CNN's Frank Sesno explores the potential ripple effects of this frightening scenario. The events depicted are hypothetical, but oil experts believe the scenario is entirely plausible. His interviews with energy experts reveal that we are nearing the point at which the world, led by the U.S. and China, will begin to consume more oil than can be pumped from the ground and the oceans. Tracking the global race to find new pools of oil, Sesno also considers the viability of alternative fuels, such as ethanol, which is used as fuel for 40% of cars in Brazil. Throughout his investigation, Sesno tries to find out whether any of these ventures can solve our looming energy crisis or whether we are already too late.
P.S. NYY 1 Sox 1 (bottom of the 4th Rain Delay)
UPDATE: NYY 1 BOS 3 bottom of the 5th