By Bruce Rhodes
January 20, 2004
Regarding the Jan. 17 Record article, Hummer time, The Livin' Is Easy, I am concerned with the impression that Kevin Crowley may leave some readers about driving a Hummer, especially off-road.
Crowley for the most part describes his Hummer experience in glowing terms. He had fun driving the vehicle. What Crowley failed to do was to describe the cost to the environment of his jaunt.
Yes, he deserves credit for persuading the reluctant GM
dealer rep to reveal that the Hummer's gas mileage is around four km per liter
(or 25 litres / 100 km), one of the worst fuel-guzzlers around. However, it
would have been appropriate for Crowley to go further and discuss the excessive
greenhouse gases (relative to other vehicles) emitted by the Hummer. In addition,
anyone using this 6,400 pound vehicle off-road could easily damage underlying
vegetation.
Mr. Crowley and others are free to enjoy driving a Hummer. However, let's all keep
in mind the resultant environmental damage of doing so.