Worldly (Cup) Views
I was just catching up on some of my reading and saw several people mentioning that they read Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” book. Scoble even went so far as to describe editorials he wrote in college about raising gas taxes by several dollars to encourage Americans to buy smaller cars and get car companies to make more efficient cars. I kinda like this idea.
4 years ago, I spend most of a year in Germany with my family while I was leading a project there for Microsoft. I think that spending a lot of time there made me realize how arrogant and wasteful Americans are when it comes to cars. I really can’t see why Americans need big SUV’s, with 5.0+ Litre engines. Off roading? Please. I am more apt to buy a mid size SUV or wagon that can seat 5+ people than an American made goliath. Even midsize SUV’s from American makers come with pocket draining V8’s, although there are exceptions. BTW Joern, what happened to us upgrading your environment during this year’s world cup?
When my brother in law asked me several years ago what truck they should buy, I recommended a couple mid size SUV’s. Their requirement was room for 7, of which there are several mid size SUV’s that can hold 7 that don’t have a 6.1 L gas guzzling engine like the Denali they ended up buying. Now it takes him close to $75 to fill the tank and gets at best 13 miles to the gallon. Yikes.
I am reminded about all of this because I was in Germany when the World Cup was going on in 2002, and how passionate they were about soccer. I am no stranger to this as I have been to a couple bloody brawls soccer games when I have been in Brasil with my parents (both immigrated to the US from Brasil). But, Germans are just as passionate about things like recycling, more efficient cars (diesels), and family life as they are about soccer. It has always seemed to me that as a society, Germans (and most Europeans) have their priorities much more in line with “saving the planet” than Americans.
What am I trying to say? I don't know. I just feel like we (Americans) don't take our role in the global environment seriously, and the only way to make a point is to do it monetarily. I hope Al Gore keeps up the pressure and makes something out of his new cause and can genuinely change attitudes about America’s obsession with big, bloaty SUV’s.
Oh, and go Brasil!
