In response to Dennis Plante, Barb Lickness, Anne McCandless, Terry
Erickson-
Oh my, evidently my tongue-in-cheek response concerning the Land Rover was
way too subtle for some of you. If you re-read my message, the focus was on
the Land Rover and why anyone would need to drive one of those gas guzzling
monstrosities.
(By the way, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy rates that
vehicle as "inferior" even when compared to
the other SUVs in its class.) No offense was intended other than to those
who heedlessly choose vehicles needlessly damaging our environment. And I do
intend to keep raising this issue with them.
But let's see how my comments were received:
Dennis raises the distinction between "what we need and what we want" - a
very good point, and one well-illustrated by the SUV culture. A vehicle
needed by those who travel off-the-road or in extreme snow conditions has
become an "in" vehicle of choice for those with no such needs, with
significant environmental consequences.
Anne accuses me of "doing my own form of profiling" and wonders if my East
Isles neighbors "need to justify owning BMWs and Mercedes?" Anne, I haven't
noticed many Beamers or Mercedes in my immediate neighborhood (most of us
seem to be driving 9 or 10 year old beaters), but I'm not hesitant to
repeatedly needle friends and neighbors who drive fuel-inefficient vehicles
about their need to drive them to get to Lunds or wherever. Perhaps I am
guilty of "profiling" these drivers.
Barb accuses me of a "double standard" and wonders if "we ask people living
in the wealthy neighborhoods around the Lakes who drive Land Rovers if they
need them?" Damn right I do, and I hope you do too. I do have a new
neighbor who has recently acquired a Hummer. I'd never met him before but
stopped and asked him if he was planning to volunteer the vehicle and
himself for the Iraq attack. He didn't seem to have a reply.
Terry says "this was simply a tactic to side step the central issue" and
refers to "our elected officials" who "publicly speak this kind of language"
and "suburb vs. city divisive talk." Terry, I'm not engaged in the third
ward race in any way. From what I've heard, there are two fine candidates.
I'm not sure I even grasp "the central issue" but I was struck by both Dyna
and Dennis' references to the man with the Land Rover and did my usual dig
at the SUV culture. This was in no way intended as a slur on the suburbs,
with whom I had very good relationships during my legislative tenure.
And by the way, Terry, isn't there some point when I can stop being tagged
as one of "our elected officials"? I've been a private citizen for over four
years and would hope I would have the right to speak my mind just like any
of the rest of you.
So, I apologize if my comments were too obtuse - but instead of taking
offense, how about joining me in working to clean up the environment? Write
to your members of Congress to demand higher fuel standards for all vehicles
and a halt to special tax breaks for the gas-guzzlers. Speak strongly or
gently to your friends and neighbors who follow fads in choosing vehicles
rather than assessing their real needs. We've only got one planet - let's
do what we can to save it!
Dee Long
East Isles
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