TechmanBD

This story gets me fuming. I personally am not fond of the hummer, but this is his choice and what he wanted. Just because this man doesn't agree with these f'n extremist leftist, gives them no right to destroy his property. [:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@]
I could go on in a rampage, but I will refrain myself.

[quote]
Hummer owner gets angry message
Vandals batter D.C. man's SUV, slash its tires and scratch in an eco note
Gareth Groves bought a Hummer, parked in on the street outside his home, and less than a week after he had Washington, D.C., tags, it was vandalized with windows and headlights smashed, tires slashed and the metal body chopped with a machete-like tool.


WASHINGTON - On a narrow, leafy street in Northwest Washington, where Prius hybrid cars and Volvos are the norm, one man bought a flashy gray Hummer that was too massive to fit in his garage.

So he parked the seven-foot-tall behemoth on the street in front of his house and smiled politely when his eco-friendly neighbors looked on in disapproval at his "dream car."

It lasted five days on the street before two masked men took a bat to every window, a knife to each 38-inch tire and scratched into the body: "FOR THE ENVIRON."
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"The thought of somebody vandalizing it never crossed my mind," said Gareth Groves, 32, who lives with his mother in a three-story home in the 3400 block of Brandywine Street NW in American University Park. "I've kind of been in shock."

Looks of satisfaction
Now, as Groves ponders what to do with the remains of his $38,000 SUV, he has been the target of a number of people who have driven by the crime scene in his upscale neighborhood and glared at him in smug satisfaction.

"I'd say one in five people who come by have that 'you-got-what-you-deserve' look," said his friend Andy Sexton, 27, who is visiting from Arkansas and has been helping Groves deal with fallout from the crime.

Neighbor Lucille Liem, 37, who owns a Prius hybrid, said that a common sentiment in the neighborhood is that large vehicles are impractical and a strain on the Earth -- and Hummers in particular are a symbol of consumer excess.

"The neighborhood in general is very concerned with the environment," said Liem, whose Prius gets about 48 miles a gallon compared with the Hummer's 14 miles a gallon. "It's more liberal leaning. It's ridiculous to be driving a Hummer."

Liem added quickly that she does not condone violence.

Another neighbor, Lani Fremaux, 58, said she bought a T-shirt months ago with a picture of a Hummer and above it the word "Bummer." She wore the shirt proudly but said she is so upset with recent events on her street that she might retire it.

"They've got everything at their disposal in this city to make a statement in a legal way," Fremaux said of the bat-wielding men who struck out at the Hummer. "I consider this a hate crime."

First attack of its kind
Police said they see small acts of vandalism in the area from time to time, but they have not seen anything so severe, or with such a clear political message, in recent years.

"This seems to be an isolated event," Cmdr. Andy Solberg said.

Investigators said they are searching for the vandals but don't have many leads. Witnesses saw two men about six feet tall with bandanas or masks over their faces smash up the car about 3:30 a.m. Monday and then run off.

Groves's mother, Phyllis Groves, 70, said she is sad for her son because he has wanted a Hummer for a while. But even she did not exactly approve of the purchase.


"I teased him because of the gas mileage," she said. "But he wanted a Hummer. He didn't have other gas guzzlers in mind."

He bought the used 2005 vehicle a month ago from a dentist in Fairfax County and left it in a shop for several weeks so it could be outfitted to his specifications -- new, bigger tires and a "lift kit," meaning it would be higher off

Jeremiah 29:11

Yes, I agree I would really be upset and might booby trap them.

I plan to keep my Challenger parked in very lighted areas for prevention.

awsure

What's amazing is I heard a story (can't vouch for accuracy) that when you compare a Hummer to a Prius over the life cycle of the car including the energy that went into production the NET consumption of energy is higher on the Prius. If that's true then all the smug Prius hybrid owner can clutch their collective bleeding hearts and ponder how they are devastating mother earth.

joeyr

Agreed. I know people who would kill over their car (seriously).

RLSH700

You are correct. The battery packs according to the environmentalist's own standards are worse for the environment than an H1 Hummer. When I get the time, I will find the article that proves that.

This is so stupid. This is why I refuse to get involved in the whole environmentalist movement. The solutions are hypocritical, they come up with stupid ideas that are remincent to ideas from the middle ages (carbon credits are to the Church of Environmentalism as paying for indulgences for sins were for the Catholic Church and have the exact same impact, it fixes and resolves nothing at all, the problem still exists without the slightest change.), some of their actions can be classified as terrorism, and so much of it is based on half-truths. I'm finished![sm=rant.gif]

Jeremiah 29:11

This article came out today.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

New study: Plug-in hybrid vehicles can have major impact on emissions and petroleum dependency


Jul 19 2007 9:50AM

Gasoline prices have soared, greenhouse gas emission are an environmental concerns, and particulate emissions continue to have a health impact – it’s clear that even 5 years from now the profile our currently almost exclusively-gas-powered automobile-based transportation system must change. Government regulations no less than public concern of foreign oil dependency will demand it. One possible scenario has the US public switching to plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) – that is, cars that rely on a battery with a range of 40-70 miles for their usual daily commute, but with a small engine that can power the battery for an extended range. But do PHEVs just shift the pollution and fuel used to the nation’s electrical grid?

A study by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) asked the question, “How would air quality and greenhouse gas emissions be affected if significant numbers of Americans drove cars that were fueled by the power grid?” The report Environmental Assessment of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles was released this morning and concludes basically that PHEVs and the grid – both as the grid exists now, and what it will evolve to by 2050 – will work very well together, with the adoption of PHEVs reducing US dependence on petroleum by 90%, and reducing greenhouse emissions by 80%. What other technology can offer such a clear path to energy independence and a lighter carbon footprint?

In the Q&A session that followed the introduction the questions was raised about the viability of PHEVs themselves, since it’s widely known that no battery exists today that can meet the safety and durability requirements of combined deep-cycling of the battery over 100,000 miles. There were representatives there from General Motors and Edison International who said that the history of battery development is that new battery technologies consistently exceed their initial expectations. For example, a battery built by a partnership of SAFT and Johnson Controls has demonstrated the equivalent of 7 years of deep-cycling with a capacity loss of only 6-7%. (I’m not going out on much of a limb to assume that it’s lithium ion.) And the Edison guy said the Edison lab has a Toyota RAV4-EV that has well over 100K miles on it. (RAV4s used NiMH.) So in this group anyway they are assuming enabling battery technology will happen.

1 Bad Mirada

i think that hummers are cool...i run a hummer site, and they are a good bunch of people. hummer owners have a reputation of being snobby yuppies, and while some of them are professionals (i think that most of them are, actually), many of them still off road their vehicles, and they are friendly to pretty much everyone on the site...even dodge owners...

GTO JUDGE

Unbelievable.... The whole world is coming unglued.

Jeremiah 29:11

One cool booby trap I thought of is if the hit the car with a bat, they get sprayed with tear gas or if they grab the handle they get shocked
and it knocks them to the ground like a taser.

lear4406

It goes to show you that extreme people will be involved with every aspect of society. No matter the cause,crazies will be involved and will take it to the exteme. But some of the green type people with these groups, do seem to get a large percentage of them. I hope they find the people responsible for the vandlized Hummer and make them pay both financal and some time in the pokey. Its an americans right to drive the vehicle of their choice. If you want a gas sipper then great. If you want a gas guzzler, thats great too. We could all go out and drive battery powered cars and guess what.... other nations will still go about their business and we won't knock a dent in the green house affect. Mother nature does more to damage the ozone in one volcanic eruption then man could do in 100 years. We need to do our part in conserving and not pollute. But look how much more concious we are today than our parents and grandparents were in their time. We have to be patient with each other and allow change to occur. Economics will take care of alot of it. These people will need to be made an example of. Stiff fines and a lot of community service. They should have to wash SUVs and trucks for free for a solid year. Put up a car wash right on the side of a busy mall parking lot. Large sign FREE CAR WASH!!!!!!!!