Tip of the Day - How to Buy a Green Car
You're shopping for a car when something occurs to you. This is your chance to help reduce global warming and help our country become energy independent. But how do you choose a "green" car?
When I bought my 2007 Honda Fit last year I was mainly attracted by the fuel mileage and the price. I assumed it had an efficient, low-polluting engine...
But I didn't realize that there were other cars -- even non-hybrids cars -- on the market that were much cleaner.
Now there is a tool for car shoppers that can make choosing a green car easy. EPA has introduced a labeling system for cars that have a combine low amount of air pollution and greenhouse gases. You can look for the "Smartway" label or you can visit the Green Vehicle Guide and sort your prospective choices by their scores.
I found that my Fit has an air pollution score of 6 (out of 10) and a green house gas score of 8 (out of 10). This gives me a combined score of 14; any vehicle with 6 or better in each category and a combined score of 13 or above gets the Smartway label. While this is pretty good I was surprised to see that the Ford Focus Wagon had scores of 9.5 for air pollution and 8 for greenhouse gases for an impressive 17.5 total. The 2007 Toyota Prius sold in California had a score of 9.5 and 10 giving it the EPA's "Elite" rating (for vehicles with scores over 9 in both categories). The Dodge Durango had an air pollution score of 3 and a greenhouse gases score of 2.
Maybe I'm wrong but I feel the term "green" is losing its stigma. My feeling is that most Americans want to cut pollution and save gas. They just don't know how. It seems that this is a valuable tool for helping them do that. What do you think?
- Posted by
- Philip Reed January 26, 2007, 8:43 AM
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"Green" is definitely becoming more mainstream. I'm feeling less and less like an ass now-a-days when I badger my friends to buy environmentally responsible vehicles (with mixed success). But I still find that most of my friends care much less about social responsibility than saving money.
Tools such as the EPA Green Guide are welcome, but IMO we won't change mainstream behavior without leveraging economics via gas taxes or carbon caps.
The Focus wagon gets 27/34. That's pretty economical in addition to having good pollution scores. Frequently it seems that being eco-green translates to having more dollar-green in your pocket.
Steve: "Eco-green = dollar-green." I think that's a slogan you could sell as an advertising campaign to Toyota for their Prius.
Joepublic: I have a friend who is always sending me emails about environmental issues. I respect that he's trying to do something about keeping the earth in good shape. I guess it's not that he's doing it but HOW he does it that makes it constructive. I'm glad to hear you're doing that for your circle of friends too.