In The Press

[\"Hummer\", heh, heh]

"This site is for HUMMER enthusiasts not environmental peckerwoods like yourself who have nothing better to do than voice an opinion about a media sensationalized subject. The great thing about America is that you can buy any product you want regardless of how useful or useless it is."

Well, useful or useless is one thing, but in many, many cases, the government has been able to step in to impose controls on harmful products and business practices.

Defining what is acceptable is always an ongoing process, but to date, that line has been drawn exclusively by the hands of auto and oil lobbiests.

Only now that SUV's are getting bigger for the sake of being the biggest, and reaching critical mass in numbers, are their flaws coming to light.

Short sighted consumers and industry lobbiests will always try to oppose changes that work against their own special interest, but I think everyone acknowledges that the days of unrestricted regulations and governmental loopholes are numbered.

That brings me to point number two -- another great thing about America is freedom of speech. Obviously, that's something you don't appreciate, but most Americans believe it's a fundamental requirement for a successful democracy.

In this case, I find that to be particularly true, because without people raising awareness, consumers would continue to choose solely based on stylistic concerns, completely oblivious to the larger picture; and lobbiests might otherwise be able to postpone meaningful standards debate indefinately.

-Jason