FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 2000. All Rights Reserved

Science Matters by David Suzuki Last week I bought my first new car in more than three decades. A new car! "How could you?" you may ask. Don't cars represent all that's wrong with our relationship with the Earth? In many ways they do. So I ride my bike and walk as much as possible, but like many Canadians there are times when I can't avoid driving. A fossil fuel vehicle-free society remains my goal, but getting there won't happen overnight. We have to start by taking practical steps like reducing our use of cars and making the ones we do have more efficient. I made my decision to buy a new car after taking a trip with my daughter. She and a group of five other young women are bicycling across Canada to raise awareness about air pollution and global warming. For one stretch in Ontario I escorted them, providing support with a hybrid-powered pace car. The car is a remarkable technological achievement. It has both an electric and a gasoline motor. At low speeds, the car uses only the electric motor powered by batteries. At higher speeds, the efficient gasoline engine kicks in. A computer decides which engine to use and it does so effortlessly, with virtually no noticeable transition between the two. This technology more than doubles fuel efficiency during normal city driving, greatly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. And you never have to plug it in. I became excited about the car. I even agreed to be in a press conference as the first person in the country to buy one. No doubt this means I'll be lambasted by some critics who will bill me as a new pitchman for the auto industry. I'll take my lumps. I paid full price for my car and I do not endorse any vehicle or any company. But we have to acknowledge positive steps when they happen. So when I see a technology that actually helps solve environmental problems, I take notice. And I take pride in knowing that I can be part of the solution. Green technology will come faster and cheaper if more of us demand it and buy it. I believe the auto industry should take a greater responsibility, as the young head of Ford has done, for its role in damaging our environment and health. In spite of all the advances made in pollution control technology in the last 20 years, the average fuel consumption of today's new vehicle fleet is actually 13 per cent worse than it was a decade ago. The reason? Gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles, vans and trucks – the industry's biggest sellers. These vehicles are exempt from stricter passenger vehicle fuel-efficiency requirements. All major automobile makers have played a part in glamourizing these vehicles. They have become a status symbol, a seemingly natural progression in the evolution of the working person's career. It's become accepted that of course the first thing you do when you earn more money is buy an expensive SUV. It's just what you do. Those who drive smaller vehicles costing less than what they can afford are deemed eccentric. But consumers have a choice. We can take away the industry's excuse that they are merely fulfilling market demand. By switching to more fuel-efficient vehicles, we send them a message that we don't want huge, heavy, gas-guzzling vehicles on our roads. We show government that we want change, that fuel-efficiency requirements are too low. We reduce the demand for oil, thus encouraging the oil industry to pursue other forms of energy. We reduce air pollution and global warming. And we save money – potentially lots of it, given today's high fuel prices. Two vehicle manufacturers, Honda and Toyota, are now selling hybrid vehicles. Others, like Ford, say they soon will too. I've already made my decision. Call me eccentric, but I plan on keeping my hybrid vehicle for at least another decade, or until an even cleaner technology comes along. To discuss this topic with others, visit the discussion forum at www.davidsuzuki.org. (Science Matters is a regular feature by writer, geneticist and television host David Suzuki.)

| Back To This Issue Table of Contents | Back To Main Index |