The real gas problem

Rampant troubles with SUV's

In response to high gas prices, President Clinton recently announced he plans to release 30 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve, a 571-million-barrel stockpile created during the energy crisis in the early 1970's. There are many causes for high petroleum prices, but while the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has not significantly changed oil production in recent months, petroleum demand remains high in the United States. What fuels this demand? Most petroleum becomes gasoline, and plenty of it goes into fuel-guzzling Sport Utility Vehicles.

Fuel economies for most SUV's ranges from 10 to 20 miles per gallon, compared to the Honda Civic's 38 m.p.g. Not only does fuel inefficiency contribute to high gas prices, but it also requires SUV's to have large tanks, which can cost more than $50 to fill in the largest vehicles. From an ecological standpoint SUV's are equally ridiculous, simultaneously contributing to global warming though CO2 emissions and accelerating the consumption of petroleum, a limited natural resource. However, fuel economy is only one of many reasons why SUV's are poor choices for transportation.

Although advertised as safe and rugged, studies have shown they are neither; instead indicating that while larger cars are not significantly safer for their passengers, they exponentially increase the danger to passengers of other cars: imagine a 7,200 pound Excursion colliding with a 1,986 pound Geo Metro. Top-heavy SUV's are also notoriously prone to rolling over on sharp curves. A July 2000 study showed that many SUV's incur costly bumper damage even at speeds as slow as five m.p.h., because government regulations do not require automakers to install bumpers with the same quality as those installed on cars.

Part of the reason SUV's have poor fuel efficiency is because of federal regulations. Federal guidelines require automakers to produce cars with an average fuel economy of 27.5 m.p.g., but since SUV's are categorized as light trucks for fuel efficiency purposes, they must only average 20.7 m.p.g. While President Clinton tightened the fuel economy for light trucks in 1993 and 1994, the republican-controlled congress has prevented the Transportation Department from tightening standards further. Ford revealed in July that it plans to increase the fuel efficiency in its SUV's by 25 percent over the next five years, clearly admitting that the technology to do so is currently available. Although Ford's self regulation of the emissions and fuel economy of its vehicles is encouraging, government should consider regulations accelerating these changes, and extending them across all makes and models.

Car buyers should think twice about buying an SUV: they inflate gas prices, contribute to global warming through CO2 emissions, are expensive to fuel and repair, and are dangerous for everyone on the road.