Sport utility vehicles are a
menace to the environment

Letter to the editor
Copyright 1999 Washington Times
November 28, 1997

Consumers Union, take issue with Eric Peter's Oct. 29 commentary, "Making SUVs the scapegoat for policy." Mr. Peters contends government fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars are responsible for choking the roadways with smaller, lighter and "less safe" cars. His underlying theme - that passenger cars could be as "safe" as sport utility vehicles (SUVs) if we only set back the clock to a pre-CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) era of big and brawny passenger cars -really caught our attention.

The problem is not that CAFE standards have brought about lighter, more fuel efficient cars. The problem is that the lack of CAFE standards for light trucks, including SUVs, has brought us heavy, gas-guzzling behemoths that in accidents, wreak havoc on other vehicles and otherwise take a particularly heavy toll on the environment. Thirteen miles per gallon for some large SUVs is simply an outrageous assault on the Earth's fuel supply and adds disproportionately to global warming.

In reality, the Environmental Protection Agency should raise CAFE standards on light trucks that include SUVs. This will push the manufacturers into making more fuel efficient vehicles, which translates into lighter vehicles.

There are alternatives to SUVs. Station wagons, for example, give the consumer a safer, more fuel efficient alternative to SUVs. Besides providing as much carrying capacity as SUVs, these vehicles also provide better fuel economy and are less of a menace to passenger cars. Unlike SUVs, these cars also have the benefit of being designed to be driven on paved surfaces.

SALLY GREENBERG
Senior product safety counsel
Washington office
Consumers Union
Washington

* Consumers Union is publisher of Consumer Reports.