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True Green Report

The dismal fate of the Minivan

December 2, 2002

The long road paving the way to the obsession of the left against SUVs started as far back as the Kyoto Protocol circa 1997.

Freelancer Eric Peters wrote in Knight Ridder/Tribune that "A tough global warming treaty at Kyoto could shoe-horn us into dangerous mini cars."

"If gas-sipping small cars are such a great idea, how come no one’s buying them?" Peters asked. "We hear endless prattle from various ‘consumer advocates’ that the auto industry is dragging its feet–refusing to provide the buying public with frugal cars while forcing land-yachts and profligate sport-utility vehicles down their throats instead."

A check of the stats at the time of Peter’s article showed the EPA’s ‘Top Ten Most Fuel Efficient’ passenger cars (all subcompact economy models with manual transmissions, underpowered engines and no air conditioning) represented, collectively just 0.7 percent of all passenger car sales–and a picayune 0.4 percent of total vehicle sales (including light trucks).

"Put another way, all of 56,729 of these supposedly desirable machines have been unloaded so far this year out of a marketplace that buys several million automobiles annually," Peters wrote.

"By itself, the Chevrolet division of General Motors sells several hundred thousand of its mid-sized Lumina models each and every year. But remember, the Lumina is a car people actually want to buy.

"This year’s records represent the worst sales record of the past several years for ‘efficient’ small cars–models derisively referred to within the industry as ‘loss leaders’ because not a dime of profit has been squeezed out of them so far.

"This is funereal news for the ‘consumer advocates’ and their uncritical friends in the media whose open contempt for SUVs, larger passenger cars and consumer choice in general borders on the pathological.

"Even Bill Clinton knows the market isn’t interested in cars that sacrifice everything in the name of fuel economy–cars like the three-cylinder Geo Metro–even if they achieve nearly 50 mpg on the highway.

"Cars like the Metro have little in the way of amenities, can’t carry more than two adults for any distance, are often dangerously underpowered for today’s roads and driving conditions and are demonstrably less safe than larger cars because of their extremely light weight, tinny door panels and minimal ‘crumple zones’ to absorb impact forces in a crash.

"In fact, National Highway Safety Administration data reveals a consistent correlation between smallish cars and highway fatality rates. Some 2,000 deaths occur each year solely because the drivers and occupants of these wretched cars had the misfortune of running afoul of elementary physics.

"Yet the president is at this very moment shadow-boxing in preparation for the forthcoming ‘global warming’ summit in Kyoto where he is fully expected to unilaterally commit this nation to unconscionably high, totally unnecessary economic and social burdens in order to curb ‘greenhouse’ gases. These ‘greenhouse gases’ are the unanswerable trump card of radical environmentalists, who have seen their previous shibboleths against the internal combustion engine and industrial society turned inside out.

"Genuinely harmful pollution from cars is mostly a thing of the past. So the bogeyman of carbon dioxin emissions–a byproduct that can only be reduced by burning less fuel–was conceived and brought to term by environmental zealots. The movement is being bankrolled by men such as Canadian natural gas baron and avowed socialist and world government promoter Maurice Strong–a huge behind-the-scenes presence at the United Nations. Strong and others of his ideological ilk are men whose names most Americans have never heard of, despite the fact they are seeking to exert a profoundly negative influence on our country’s future well being.

"One likely consequence of the upcoming conference in Kyoto, will be a hike in gas prices of 50 cents or more per gallon–either in the form of energy taxes or an emissions trading scheme that drives up prices in a less noticeable way.

"That will engender Geo Metros, Diesel Volkswagens and other econo-boxes with a ‘popularity’ the free market could never confer and bring joy to environmentalists, control freaks ad statists alike.

"If that happens, a decent car, a middle-class standard of living and any hope for economic security for our families may soon become a thing of the past."


PETA fails to intimidate lingerie model

They don’t teach this in modeling school: How to react when animal activists jump you on the runway.

When it happened to model Gisele Bundchen, she didn’t turn a hair.

Victoria’s Secret launched its pre-Christmas show in the Big Apple. Activists for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) rushed the stage as Ms. Bundchen strutted her stuff down the runway, decked out in a beaded bra and panties, thigh-high black stockings and strappy red high heels.

The four female protesters, carrying signs that read "Gisele: Fur Scum", shouted and screamed at the supermodel as she calmly and resolutely completed her runway turn. Facing off with animal rights activists is not in her contract.

The protesters were taken away, the lights went down and the segment of the show that was interrupted was redone. As Bundchen strode out for the second time in the outfit, the audience erupted into applause for the composed model.

According to Associated Press, "The dramatic confrontation was oddly fitting in a show that featured tried-and-true black lace numbers as well as everything from clear go-go boots with Day-Glo lingerie to fur caps paired with moccasin boots. And wings, lots of wings."

"This year we really worked much harder to develop a connection with hot-off-the-runway products," said Grace Nichols, president and CEO of Victoria’s Secret stores.

Longtime Victoria’s Secret model Heidi Klum and Sugar Ray front man Mark McGrath served as hosts, while R&B trio Destiny’s Child sang The Eight Days of Christmas and salsa singer Marc Anthony performed Tragedy.

The show, in its seventh year, attracted a varied group of celebrities. Huddled up together were Donald Trump, girlfriend Melania Knauss and former Talk magazine publisher Tina Brown.

Sending women like Tyra Banks, Noami Campbell and Heidi Klum down the runways wearing lingerie has proven a successful formula for the retailer, which initially envisioned the fashion show as a way to publicize its Web site.

PETA, which recently ran an ad campaign mocking the company name under the theme "Victoria’s Dirty Little Secret" has had its sights set on the retailer for some time.


Your leased SUV the enemy to ELF

The SUV as a status symbol makes green monsters of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF).

Twenty-five Ford and Mercury SUVs at an Henrico County dealership in Virginia were permanently damaged with glass-etching cream. One vehicle had the word "ELF" sprayed on it, said Sgt. Tom Shumate, Henrico Police Department spokesman.

On the same morning of the SUV vandalism, the cream was used to spray the word "ELF" on the windows of one Burger King and two McDonald’s restaurants in Henrico County.

Weeks later, two vehicles in residential areas were severely damaged by vandals wielding an axe. They caused about $9,000 worth of damage to a 1996 Toyota SUV and about $5,000 in damages to a 1995 Ford SUV. Notes at the scene stated ELF members were responsible.

In nearby Goochland County, vandals opposed to an upscale neighbourhood burned down a house under construction and damaged construction equipment.

ELF has roots in a group known as Earth First! and in 1992 began ecoterrorism in Oregon.

In 1998, an ELF fire at a ski resort in Colorado caused $12 million in damage. ELF has also claimed responsibility for an April 2000 fire at a Eugene, Ore. auto dealership that destroyed 30 SUVs.

According to the ELF website, the group wants to "inflict economic damage on those profiting from the destruction and exploitation of the natural environment." The site also states that members "take all necessary precautions" against harming humans and animals.

Several ELF members, including four New York teenagers and one Indiana man have been arrested since 2001. But authorities have had difficulty apprehending other "elves", which operate in cells independent of hierarchy or leadership.

Meanwhile, your SUV may be a leased lemon and a headache to you, but

to ELF it’s a threat to the natural environment.


Demonized DDT still best antidote against malaria

Some environmentalists now recognize the importance of DDT to public health programs in poor countries. The remarkable insecticide has been given an exemption for production and use under the Stockholm Convention, which aims to restrict or eliminate 12 persistent organic pollutants, POPs, of which DDT is one.

"There is concern about DDT because of its persistence in the environment and its agility to bio-accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals," says Richard Tren, a Director of the South African health non-government organization, Africa Fighting Malaria. "But it is used highly effectively in malaria control, however, and is sprayed in tiny quantities on the insides of houses where it kills the deadly Anopheles mosquitoes."

"The human health concerns around DDT have been widely exaggerated," says Tren. "DDT is not a human carcinogen and in the 50 years of its widespread use, not a single scientific paper has been able to replicate a case of actual human harm from its use."

"When it comes to malaria control, DDT’s persistency is a great asset," he said. "Before DDT use, malaria control officers had to spray the natural pyrethrum insecticide almost every two weeks. DDT only needs to be sprayed once a year, greatly reducing the costs of malaria control and increasing efficacy."

In the ongoing battle against malaria, ensuring the continued availability of DDT is of great concern for public health officers around the world, and it is a great relief to them that the Stockholm Convention allows provision for this.

In South Africa in the late 1990s, the number of malaria cases rose by over 1,000 percent and the hospitals and clinics simply could not cope with the crisis. A major reason for the epidemic was the removal of DDT from the malaria control program–the result of ferocious environmental pressure.

The South African Department of Health reintroduced DDT in 2000 and in one year saw an 80 percent reduction in the number of cases. Since then malaria almost has become a rarity for physicians.


Health board waffling on zapping mosquitoes

Toronto Health Board Chair Councillor Joe Mihevc never met a mosquito he didn’t dismiss out of hand.

How else to explain that despite "somewhat alarming data" on the rapid arrival of West Nile virus in Toronto the Good, the local board of health has deferred a decision on a $720,000 program to spray pesticides in the city’s 200,000 catch basins?

As of mid-November, there were a total of 21 confirmed cases of dreaded West Nile virus in the city of Toronto proper, as well as 34 probable cases and 60 suspect cases. According to health statistics, there was also an eightfold increase in cases of viral encephalitis this year, reaching a total of 190 cases.

Those cases–classified as undetermined–could be related to the virus, bringing the total number of potential and confirmed West Nile cases to 224 this year.

Of the 224 cases, seven people have died: one confirmed to be West Nile, three listed as "probable", two as "suspect".

In spite of all the information about the increase of West Nile disease in the American media in the past year, politicians on the local health board seem to have been taken by surprise. "I don’t think people realize what a bombshell this is. The disease is moving faster than we thought," said Coun. Mihevc.

Blaming the virus on climate change, Mihevc called for strong action. "The world’s climate has changed. West Nile virus is here and it’s here in full force, and it’s a miserable disease."

Despite his call for action, the board agreed to defer a plan proposed by the city’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Sheela Basur to spend $720,000 to spray pesticide through the city’s catch basin system. Research has shown the catch basin network to be a breeding ground for the virus-carrying mosquitoes. The goal of the program would d be to kill the larvae before they reach adulthood.

The cash for the spraying program–to be split 50-50 between the city and the province–would pay for two applications of the pesticide to ensure effectiveness.

Mihevc meantime is waffling. While action is needed, he said, there’s still time over the course of the winter to decide if that’s the best route to follow before the spraying would need to be done in the months of May-June.

"Can you imagine Canada without mosquitoes? To be a Canadian in the summer is to have mosquito bites. So, do we really see larviciding all our catch basins from now to perpetuity? Is that the best strategy? Maybe it us…but I think we want to say, ‘Hey, time out," Mihevc said.

"We do have some months over the wintertime, so let’s be thoughtful about this. Do we want to invest $750,000 to $1-million just for Toronto (on pesticide)? Or are there other ways?" he added.

Toronto has already received $764,000 in one-time funding from the province to launch a public education campaign and track the spread of the disease.

The news of the "somewhat alarming data" follows freshly on the heels of the 90 percent reduction of residential pesticide use in the city over the next three years and a complete ban of their use at schools and daycare, announced by Dr. Basur. In addition, Dr. Basur also proposed a 60 percent reduction of pesticide use for commercial and industrial properties.

Problem number two in the decision whether to spray the city’s catch basins is the municipal election campaign leading to next November’s civic election. Left wing councillors, such as Mihevc may not want to provoke leftwing voters who are largely against the use of pesticides.

"’At least," he said, ‘we can make some progress the old way.’"



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