Thursday, November 23, 2006

the shine is off the apple

Consider me naive, but I actually thought for some reason that people who bought hybrid cars are buying them - at least in part - because they care about the planet. Decreasing their fossil fuel consumption, reducing emissions, supporting corporations who are helping to drive eco-friendly technologies towards the marketplace ... But, like I said, that was naive. What I guess is really happening is that people are buying hybrid cars because gas is too fucking expensive and they don't want to spend so much on it. Nothing else. Sure, there are some people who care, but most likely it comes down to how frequently people need to fill up their tank and how that impacts their wallets.

So what was it that changed my perspective?

I was in line at a Burger King drive through a few nights ago. As I sat there, the hybrid in front of me got their food, traded the cashier their money for a soda, and then proceeded to wad up a bunch of trash and through it out the window of their hybrid.

Who litters in a hybrid? Shouldn't Toyota have some sort of LitterSensor&trade that triggers an ejection seat if you toss crap out of your hybrid's window?

Anyway, it bummed me out and I realize now how dumb it was to think that the recent success of the hybrid was due to some large eco-awakening across the country. I guess it all just comes down to just dollars and cents.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

and the tax break. do you still get that for buying a hybrid?

Bug said...

You sure do. I forgot about that.

EmoRiot said...

The tax break isn't nearly what it should be. In 2004 there was a 4,000 corporate break for a hybrid and a 100,000 corporate break for a Hummer.

Bug said...

Yeah. I forgot about that, too.