Go ahead, officer. Pull me over.
I defy you.
Posted on 11/12/2003 3:58:17 AM PST by kattracks
(CNSNews.com) - An environmental activist group, equating the health hazards of Hummers with those of cigarettes, is organizing what it calls a "National Protest Day Against Hummers." (Hummers are the civilian version of the military Humvee, or High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle.)
On Saturday, Nov. 15, protestors say they will "spend hours" demonstrating against Hummer dealerships in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Fort Lauderdale, New York, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and ten other cities.
The activists are seeking a ban on all radio and TV advertising for the large vehicles, which they consider environmentally unfriendly.
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network, offering a "gas-guzzling" argument, says Hummers "contribute enormously to global warming, air pollution, and childhood asthma," and thus they are "a huge threat to children and other car passengers who share the road" with them.
"Yet GM is now flooding our TV and radio airwaves with ads for the vehicles, including ads that market the monsters directly to children," the group noted in a press release.
"A generation ago, cigarette makers flooded our airwaves with ads that made smoking -- which is a direct threat to human health -- seem cool to all of us, including our vulnerable children," said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
"Appropriately, as a society, we have now protected ourselves and our children from destructive cigarette marketing. But unless we do the same for Hummers, we are hurting our kids' health as much as putting cigarette machines in all of our schools."
The protestors also are urging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to begin crash-test studies of Hummers, and they are demanding that Congress "close the outrageous tax loophole" that allows U.S. businesses to deduct up to $100,000-worth of the cost of Hummers and other large SUVs from their federal taxes.
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network said it is protesting Hummers under the banner of "Citizens for Vehicle Responsibility."
'Social responsibility'
On its website, General Motors offers the following defense of Hummers:
"Hummer, as a company and a community of owners, cares about the world around them. GM and Hummer do whatever possible to build as environmentally safe trucks as possible, and to build them in environmentally friendly plants.
"In addition, Hummer partners with Tread Lightly! to promote social responsibility of off-roading...Hummer owners take social responsibility seriously," the GM website says.
"Owners across the country are using their vehicles for rescue efforts and in environmental efforts like helping the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection through stream restoration."
Hummer aficionados say many Hummers are diesel-powered, and moreover, they are produced in limited numbers. Fans note they get better mileage than large vans and recreational vehicles.
According to The Hummer Network, an Internet Community of Hummer owners and enthusiasts, "A Honda gets better fuel economy than a Hummer, but if there are tens of thousands of Hondas on the road for every Hummer, which brand uses more oil and produces more pollutants?"
Hummer fans also argue that more fuel is wasted in daily traffic jams than is burned by all the Hummers in existence. They say it is ludicrous for protestors to blame Hummers for problems that stem from many other sources.
Of course they do, being as children often have six-figure incomes and lots of disposable income.
Failure to eat beef makes your mind atrophy.
Go ahead, officer. Pull me over.
I defy you.
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