Why the Suv Is Bad

In today’s society there are many “personal choices” we make that we feel only affect us. But in reality we are hurting our society by the actions we do. One of the ways is driving an SUV. (Sport Utility Vehicle) It might be big, can haul a lot of stuff and make you feel safer on the road, but in reality, it’s bad for the environment, bad on the economy, and can cause accidents which put others at risk. The American people are so dependent on oil that the supply and demand increases the cost every time at the pump. If people are willing to pay the four dollars a gallon, then the stores will charge it. The less fuel efficient your car is, the more you are going to the pump. The Hummer H2 for example, gets 12.3 miles per gallon. There are no rules right now but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will require better mileage by 2011. The H2 will have to increase its mpg to 22.3. Still that is very low considering most compact cars minimal is 27.5. Ron DeFore, a spokesman for the sport-utility vehicle Owners of America, a non-profit consumer group, questioned whether the rules were needed given high gas prices. He says he fears the standards will lead to higher vehicle prices, reduced performance and fewer options such as V-8 engines and four-wheel drive. The Transportation Department says the rules will save nearly 11 billion gallons of fuel — including 2 billion from the largest SUVs alone. "Fighting America's oil addiction with these standards is like fighting lung cancer by smoking 49 cigarettes a day instead of 50," said Don MacKenzie, a Union of Concerned Scientists engineer. (O'Donnell, 2006) As part of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requires automakers to comply with gas mileage or fuel economy standards set by the Department of Energy. The current CAFE standard for cars is 27.5 miles per gallon (mpg), and has not changed since 1986. The current CAFE standard for light trucks --