FBI Joins Hunt for Persons Who Doused 15 Hummers With Acid in Oregon
The FBI has joined the investigation to find those responsible for vandalizing 15 Hummers over the weekend at a Portland, Oregon, dealership.
The obvious suspects, members of the Earth Liberation Front, are not claiming responsibility for the act, and posted this on their Website:
"Acid was poured over fifteen Hummers at Vic Alfonso Cadillac in Portland, OR, USA. As of yet there has been no claim of responsibility. However, it is evident from the sabotage that this act was conducted in response to the environmental devastation caused by SUVs and Hummers in particular."
The ELF may be a familiar name to you. The group of militant environmentalists claimed responsibility for setting a fire at West Covina, California, dealership in 2003 that destroyed 20 Hummers.
Another 20 of the gas-guzzling vehicles and several Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs were badly damaged by fire and spray paint. Words such as "ELF," "Fat, Lazy Americans" and "I (heart) pollution" were painted on the SUVs.
ELF member William Cottrell was convicted of conspiracy to commit arson after the attacks and sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution.
That wasn't the last attack on a Hummer prior to this past weekend's acid-dousing. Indeed, a Hummer parked in an apartment carport in Fresno, California, was set on fire in July. The vehicle was destroyed and the carport roof damaged. No arrests have been made to date.
- Posted by
- Scott Doggett September 16, 2009, 10:59 AM
- Permalink
- Categories:
- Emissions, Fuel Economy, Hummer
- Technorati Tags:
- Arson, Emissions, FBI, Fire, Fuel Economy, Hummer, Oregon, Portland
As much as I agree that Hummers and large SUVs in general are symbols of gluttony, I'd hate to see my personal vehicle vandalized because of someone's radical political stance. Or similarly I'd hate to have to explain to my boss why we just lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in product because some militant extremists don't agree with what our product supposedly represents. I'm just out to earn a living, not make a political statement by my choice in careers. With this decade's focus on Islamic terrorism, I think we may have lost sight of domestic terrorists such as the ELF.
SUVs suck, but you don't have to throw acid or commit a felony to argue the point.
The vandalism also has a high "green" cost on many fronts:
1) With violent actions, "green" movements are seen generally as militant, and therefore adopted psychologically slower by the middle-class, reducing the overall adoption of green products (thereby increasing carbon emissions, etc.)
2) Individual acts causing destruction such as arson release as much or more carbon emissions than the product would have otherwise released in its lifetime.
3) Repairs of the vandalism consumes fuel, raw materials, and repainting releases additional VOC's into the atmosphere.
Ergo, violent green movements, such as ELF, do far more harm to the planet than good, both directly and indirectly.
They need to refocus their immature anger into productive and beneficial programs to enhance adoption of green lifestyles and products by the consumer masses.
Regards,
Doc