(2003) SUV Owners of America Delivers 'Cease and Desist' Petition To Arianna Huffington

SUV Owners of America Delivers 'Cease and Desist' Petition To Arianna Huffington and Other Anti-SUV Zealots 6,000 plus SUV Owners and Supporters Urge Huffington, Others to Stop Encouraging Domestic Terrorists Like ELF

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 -- Five days after a shocking episode of anti-SUV domestic terrorism in southern California, the SUV Owners of America (SUVOA) is delivering a petition with 6,065 supporter names to activist Arianna Huffington and other anti-SUV zealots, urging they stop encouraging groups like the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), which torched the West Covina auto dealership and has committed other recent acts of violence against SUVs and their owners (see timeline at end of this release).

The petition is being sent to Ms. Huffington, who created the anti-SUV Detroit Project; her colleague Robert Kennedy, Jr., of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Detroit Project; the Rev. Jim Ball, creator of the "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign; and Fenton Communications, the public affairs firm behind both the Detroit Project and "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaigns.

"Last week's events underscore a dangerous irony: Huffington's irresponsible efforts to link SUV owners with Mideast terrorists actually are giving aid and comfort to domestic terrorists like those who torched the West Covina dealership," said Ron DeFore, SUVOA communications director. "While Ms. Huffington and like-minded zealots have spent tens of thousands of dollars condemning SUV owners, they refuse to take any responsibility for providing moral cover for radical domestic terrorist groups that have been vandalizing SUVs, homes and apartment buildings."

DeFore stressed the apparent environmental damage caused by the latest ELF attack on the California auto dealer. According to Rick Genovese, fire marshal for West Covina: "There's a lot more pollutants from the fire than the vehicles would pollute during their lifetime. There are hundreds of tons of pollutants that were spilled off." (AP, August 22)

The SUVOA petition and names of its supporters, collected over the prior 45 days, are being delivered today on a CD-ROM. First placed July 14 on SUVOA's Web site (suvoa.com) in conjunction with SUVOA's "What Does Jesus (Rivera) Drive?" advertisement, the petition reads:

"We are SUV owners. Like 24 million other Americans, we drive SUVs because they provide us with safety, comfort, utility and versatility. Facts show that SUVs are safe and clean.

"We use these vehicles to safely transport our children, carpool, go on vacation, tow boats and campers, carry home supplies or simply travel in comfort. We are the people who hospitals call in snow emergencies and community leaders count on after disasters. We are families and friends, citizens of all ages and ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities, small business owners and trades people.

"We are joining together and asking you to stop your personal attacks against those of us who drive SUVs. It is shameful and offensive when you imply that God disapproves of us or that we support terrorists.

"Worse yet, such misguided and highly personal attacks give comfort and justification to those, like the Earth Liberation Front, who torch SUVs, smear them with animal waste or vandalize them in countless other ways and then brag about it on their website.

Huffington's delivery was shipped to her estate in Brentwood, California. SUVOA's DeFore noted that California residents drive more SUVs than in any other state with more than three million of the 24 million SUVs in this country. One out of every 10 Californians drives an SUV.

SUVOA was formed to give voice to the 24 million SUV owners whose rights are being trampled by special interests and activist groups, as well as to provide consumers with practical information about their SUVs. Founded in 1999, the group actively defends the rights of SUV owners and rebuts false charges regarding SUVs' safety and environmental record.

Since re-launching the new SUVOA Web site in May, the group has accumulated 16,818 supporters.

Fact sheets addressing key safety and environmental issues are available at www.suvoa.com .

The SUV-Bashing Timeline (Domestic Terrorism Events with Asterisks) 1999 SUVOA founded by a retired businessman from Wisconsin tired of SUVs constantly getting attacked in the media.

October 21, 2000 Robert Lind of San Francisco discusses his vigilante bumper sticker campaign against SUVs on National Public Radio.

March 30, 2001 * More than 30 Chevrolet Suburbans and Tahoes scorched or destroyed in $1 million Oregon fire. "Anonymous" group takes credit.

June 20, 2001 Union of Concerned Scientists releases "Drilling in Detroit," criticizing SUVs.

July 4, 2001 * The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) takes responsibility for the destruction of eight Ford Expeditions by arson at Michigan Ford dealership.

November 24, 2001 Robert Kennedy, Jr., senior attorney for the NRDC, joins the anti-SUV camp, speaking out against SUVs in a New York Times op-ed.

July 2002 * The ELF continues campaign of domestic terrorism on SUV owners by launching a wave of destruction in Richmond, Virginia.

September 17, 2002 Release of new book attacking SUVs: "High and Mighty: SUVs: The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way."

October 21, 2002 Columnist Arianna Huffington writes a column suggesting a link between SUVs and terrorism.

Fall 2002 Americans for Fuel Efficient Cars (AFEC) is co-founded by Arianna Huffington. The group attacks SUVs, linking SUVs to funding terrorism.

November 20, 2002 Rev. Jim Ball and the Evangelist Environmental Network (EEN) jump on the anti-SUV bandwagon and launch the "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign.

November 27, 2002 * The ELF takes credit for the destruction of 40 SUVs in Richmond, Virginia (dating back to July 2002).

January 2003 The Detroit Project, started by the AFEC, releases to media copy of commercial linking SUVs to terrorism.

January 2, 2003 * The ELF takes credit for the destruction of SUVs at a Pennsylvania dealership.

May 7, 2003 The Detroit Project and the NRDC release an ad claiming Detroit has the answer to increase fuel efficiency, but is keeping it a secret.

July 14, 2003 "What Would Jesus Drive?" tour is scheduled final stop in Washington D.C.

August 1, 2003 * The ELF takes credit for torching a huge apartment complex under construction in San Diego, California.

August 22, 2003 * The ELF destroys 20 SUVs and a building in arson fire at an auto dealership in West Covina, California.

MEDIA MATTERS
High-living celebs tie
SUV owners to terror
Backers of TV ad campaign get along with 21-car garage, private jet travel

Posted: January 10, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Art Moore
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

A Hollywood celebrity-backed television ad campaign that claims SUV owners are aiding terrorists has prompted the question, "What do the stars drive?"

Syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington has the support of entertainment producers Norman Lear, Steve Bing and Larry David for her "Detroit Project," which asks American consumers "to connect the dots and think about the effect that their gas-guzzling SUVs are having on our foreign policy."

Huffington says she has turned in her 13-mile-per-gallon Lincoln Navigator SUV for a hybrid gas and electric Toyota Prius that gets 52 miles per gallon, but she still makes her home in a 9,000-square-foot estate in the elite Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.

She admitted to radio talk show host Sean Hannity on Tuesday that she travels in private jets, though she told another WABC radio host in New York yesterday, Curtis Sliwa, that she does it at the "sacrifice" of frequent flier miles.

As of last year, Bing was known to drive a luxury Lincoln Town Car, according to media sources.

Lear's neighbors in the Brentwood Hills area of Los Angeles are well aware of the famous TV producer's 21-car garage, which became the object of a legal battle in the 1990s when Lear wanted to build a tennis court on its roof.

A neighbor who spoke with WND on condition of anonymity said he does not know Lear's mode of travel, but notes that consumption of oil-based products at the celebrity's gated, 13,000-square-foot estate is conspicuous.

"If you come across any estate here in Brentwood, you will see 10 to 40 trash cans outside made of plastic, and also filled with plastic items, while a normal household puts out one trash can a week," he said.

Lear's inventory of plastic garbage containers is no exception.

"He has an incredible lineup," the neighbor said. "My thought as I drive by is always, 'How does his staff move the cans a quarter of a mile out to the street?'"

In addition to his Los Angeles residence, Lear owns a "multi-building estate on a hillside in southern Vermont" that includes "offices, a gym, a screening room, as well as spacious living quarters," said a July 30, 2002 story by the Associated Press.

Lear's Brentwood neighbor, whose 3,000 square-foot home is modest by comparison, said the anti-SUV campaign makes a valid argument for conservation but smacks of hypocrisy.

"For people of their income category, it's the pot calling the kettle black in terms of consumption," he said.

'I helped hijack an airplane'

The ads, patterned after anti-drug commercials that suggest profits from illegal sales go to terrorists, say that terrorists end up with some of the extra money needed to supply gas for fuel-hungry SUVs.

One ad begins with a girl's voice referring to a man at a gas station: "This is George. This is the gas that George bought for his SUV."

A map of the Middle East then appears, followed by: "These are the countries where the executives bought the oil that made the gas that George bought for his SUV." The scene then moves to terrorists in a desert: "And these are the terrorists who get money from those countries every time George fills up his SUV."

Another ad includes a series of statements from ordinary Americans: "I helped hijack an airplane"; "I gave money to a terrorist training camp in a foreign country"; "What if I need to go off-road?" It concludes with: "What is your SUV doing to our national security?"

Television stations in New York, Detroit and Los Angeles are refusing to air the ads. WABC in New York said it has a policy against running "controversial" commercials. Sunday news shows, including Meet the Press, Face the Nation and This Week With George Stephanopoulos are expected to air the spots this weekend.

Ted Pearse, general sales manager of WDIV-TV in Detroit, said he thought the "copy in the ads is totally inappropriate, and that has nothing to do with the fact the auto show is in town," according to the Detroit Free Press. "If it was eight weeks from now, I don't feel the script presented to us was germane in any shape, way or form," he said.

SUV limos for the stars

Lear is founder of the lobby group People for the American Way, launched to oppose the "conservative agenda," and co-founder of the Environmental Media Association, which has helped spawn an increase in movies and TV shows with environmental themes.

Among board members of the environmental group are Disney CEO Michael Eisner, actress Jane Fonda and actor John Travolta, who pilots his own luxury Boeing 707.

Eisner and Fonda also are clients of a company in Los Angeles that converts SUVs and other heavy-duty "low-profile" vehicles, such as Chevy Suburbans and Ford Excursions, into "original-length, non-stretch, executive limousines."

The cars provide "spacious and elegant interiors, equipped with an array of personal comforts and top-of-the-line electronics."

Howard Becker of Becker Automotive Design, Inc., told WorldNetDaily that, to no one's surprise, Hollywood celebrities, including some leading environmental activists, are inclined toward vehicles with "more powerful engines."

Becker said he could not discuss his many celebrity clients, but his website includes a list of customers.

Celebrities who have ordered custom-built SUV or truck-based limousines along with Fonda and Eisner are Barbra Streisand, Whoopi Goldberg, Elizabeth Taylor, Jerry Seinfeld, Charlie Sheen, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Cher, Sylvester Stallone, Ben Affleck, Adam Sandler, Michael Jackson, Michael Douglas and Eddie Murphy.

"A lot of what we do here is meant to be subtle on the outside so [the celebrities] don't draw attention," Becker said. "Inside, many of the vehicles have all the luxuries and amenities that are part of their current state in life."

Streisand's publicist was unavailable for comment, but the actress and political activist has been known, at least in the past, to travel about town in a 45-foot, fully equipped motor home that gets about six to eight miles per gallon. She has told people close to her that the massive vehicle is necessary, even for short trips, in order to avoid germs at public restrooms.

Goldberg and Affleck are among the "legions of Hollywood celebrities" who have "hopped into the truck du jour," the Cadillac Escalade, the Los Angeles Times said Nov. 24, helping "rekindle interest in a luxury brand that has lost its luster in recent years."

However, "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David, like Huffington, drives a hybrid Prius that entertainment tabloids call "Hollywood's latest politically correct status symbol." The car has a suggested base price of $20,000.

Many Hollywood notables look at the Prius like they looked at a Jaguar a few years ago, according to a June 6, 2002, story in the Washington Post, which notes that David sold his Lexus and producer Rob Reiner traded in his BMW to get one.

Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carole King, Billy Joel, David Duchovny and Bill Maher are other celebrities who have hopped on board the Prius.

David likes the car so much that he bought three, including one for his character "Larry David" on his HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

DiCaprio told the Post, "This is the most radical mass-produced car in the world and I can't find any downside."

"My family and I own a total of four," DiCaprio said, "and we drive them all over Los Angeles."

Reiner said he bought one because he found out from David "that they existed."

"I thought, 'Here's something I could actually do that would save on gas, save the environment, protect us from global warming,'" Reiner said.

Prius-owner Huffington, who sold her Lexus as well as her SUV, also was quoted in the Post story.

"It is very much a little peer pressure," she said of the celebrity interest in the hybrid car. "Positive peer pressure."

"I got a little tired of hearing how we're at war, and we're being asked to do nothing about it but go shopping, go to Disneyland and the mall," she said.

The columnist also pointed out its social benefit as a conversation piece.

On the day she purchased the car, she drove to lunch and quickly drew a dozen gawkers in front of the restaurant.

"The parking lot was full of Jaguars and Bentleys," she said, "and my host ... brought everyone out to the driveway to look at Arianna's car. It became this point of attraction."

SUVs accounted for one in four vehicles sold last year, according to the industry research firm Autodata Corp.

Toyota Motor Corp. announced this week that it will introduce a hybrid version of the Lexus RX330 sport-utility vehicle in 2004. The company promises it will have the performance of a V-8 engine and the economy of a compact sedan.

Goal not to 'demonize'

The goal of the "Detroit Project" is "not to demonize people who drive SUVs," said co-founder Lawrence Bender, a movie producer whose credits include “Pulp Fiction” and “Good Will Hunting."

"Rather," Bender said in a statement, "we want to point out how our driving habits at home are fueling oil money to Saudi Arabia – which funnels some of that wealth to support charities and religious zealots with ties to terrorist activity – and to Iraq, where Saddam Hussein invests the profits in weapons of mass destruction."

Last year, a group of evangelical Christian activists caused a stir with their anti-SUV television spot called "What would Jesus drive?"

Huffington said, "We’re asking American consumers to connect the dots and think about the effect that their gas-guzzling SUVs are having on our foreign policy."

Campaign media organizer Simon Aronoff said the idea came from a column Huffington wrote urging Americans to get rid of their SUVs as an act of patriotism.

"The only reason she moved forward is she got thousands of letters of support and checks started coming in," he told WND. "These were average people sending in small donations. So she said, 'let's build on this and do something.'"

In an Oct. 22, 2002, column Huffington referred to "the Bush team's ridiculous and wildly inflammatory anti-drug ads" and wondered "if we might turn the tables on him by starting a little ad campaign of our own to sabotage another misguided Bush campaign: the War on Conservation."

In another column, Nov. 25, 2002, Huffington opined, "How nice it must feel for SUV owners, knowing that their swaggering imprudence is helping the world's anti-democratic oil sheiks sleep just a little better at night. Call this camp the Bigger Is Better crowd. Their motto: 'Burn, baby, burn ... 30 percent more carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons and 75 percent more nitrogen oxides than passenger cars.' How about this for a bumper sticker: 'Honk if you hate the ozone layer!'"

Custom auto-builder Becker thinks Huffington's claim that SUV drivers contribute to terrorism is "a bit of a reach" and needs proof.

"My wife has driven my kids to their soccer games in SUVs, and I don't think any of us think we are contributing to terrorism," he said.

The free market indicates others don't either, Becker maintains.

"If utility and use and joy in life is served well by a vehicle that uses a little more gas than another uses, the American public is saying that they prefer this, and the risk isn't great enough," he said.

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