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Description
In 1988, when I wrote about the future of automobiles in the premier issue of World Watch, there were no Hummers on the road and SUVs had not yet reached their prime. It would be another decade before Toyota unveiled its revolutionary Prius hybrid. The fact that both vie for consumers' pocketbooks today suggests that in the last 20 years we have come a long way and yet remain stuck in reverse at the same time. The Hummer, a knock-off of the heavy-duty U.S. military vehicle that was a centerpiece of "Desert Storm" in 1991, is not so much a car as a statement of defiance in the face of peak oil worries and growing environmental consciousness. As the anti-Hummer, the Prius promises drivers mobility without wrecking the planet. But it, too, is far more than a mere means of transportation: the Leonardo DiCaprios of the world have made the Prius de rigueur in certain circles.
The larger issue is not so much what divides Hummer partisans from Prius lovers as... |
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