While in Beloit, WI this weekend visiting the new baby, I stopped home in Janesville to see my parents. Janesville is an interesting town. The economy is very strongly influenced by the General Motors plant and the plant produces SUVs- the Suburbans and Tahoes being the biggest. The plant has been in operation for decades and as the motor industry has waxed and waned, so has the economic future of Janesville. In the 1990s, with the boom in popularity of SUVs, the city was on the up and up. EVERYBODY seemed to be driving some huge beast of a truck. (Well, except my family– we’re Japanese devotees.) Part of it was probably due to the huge discount that GM employees get, but I’m sure it had a lot to do with the market too. Either way, Janesville’s love of the SUV has held on strong.

Now, however, with high gas prices, global warming, and a slow economy, the plant’s future is dismal at best. I hear GM plans to introduce some hybrid SUVs in order to boost interest, but even that doesn’t get me optimistic. If you’re already driving a Suburban, Escalade, or H2 Hummer (all GM vehicles), I really doubt you care enough about gas prices or the environment to pay a few extra thousand dollars to get an engine that will only slow you down and boost your MPG rating to maybe 26 on a good day. It’s sad that the plant will close within the next few years, and with it my hometown will take a huge hit, but I guess I just have mixed feelings about the whole thing.

Now, I honestly don’t expect the whole world to drive two-passenger electric cars (although it would be nice). But I still can’t fathom why people feel the need to buy some of these monstrosities. I went to the gas station by my parents’ house and happened to pull up to the pump closest to the vacuums. There were three trucks using them: two Suburbans and an H2. When they saw my car, they literally cranked their heads out of their windows and stared. As if I was a complete freak and my car was the sole cause of their beloved plant’s demise. But why, oh why does the world need the H2 (or H3 for that matter)? It gets 8-13PMG. Am I missing something? Even if you have a large family, you can find a much more environmentally-friendly and spacious vehicle than a Suburban or Tahoe. Granted, I would not be caught dead in a mini-van. Sorry, I am pretentious like that. But, for less money than a Suburban, I could get a hybrid mid-size SUV if I really needed the space.

John’s cousin and his cousin’s family are car fanatics. His uncle works for International and honestly drives this:

Yes, that is the same vehicle that Ashton Kutcher drives. And no, I am not kidding. And they love to joke how they could just haul our Prius around right on its flatbed. Because that would be funny, right? Besides this beauty, their arsenal includes an Escalade, a Jeep, a Suburban, a couple other Cadillacs, and all sorts of gas-guzzling watercraft. They just got a new car and John’s cousin was so proud when he told me that it’s environmentally-friendly. They bought an Equinox, which gets a whopping 19/25MPG. The sad thing is, they are pretty normal when it comes to the American mind-set. They are nice people living the good life, just enjoying the fruits of their labor. And John’s cousin honestly thought that fuel economy would impress me, the ardent environmentalist.

Global warming and environmental issues just depress me. I will never understand why it is such a “controversial” issue. People who say they “do not believe” in global warming… I don’t even know how to respond to that. Do they “believe” in dinosaurs? That the world is round? And why put up such a huge fuss? I get that people are passionate about issues like abortion when religion comes into play. Or war. But the environment? And when I hear that global warming is just a fiction created by the liberals and/or liberal media… Seriously??

*Sigh* I read a few weeks back that the Yangtze River Dolphin has been officially categorized as extinct due to human pollution. Laugh if you will, but I cried. I can’t help it. It’s just so sickening and devastating to know that an entire species is gone from this earth, never to be seen again, thanks to the selfishness and ignorance of humans. And then I read that polar bears will also likely be categorized as extinct in the wild by 2050. I can’t even imagine bringing children into a world that is deteriorating so rapidly. For the hypochondriac like me, it is frightening. So, for my sake (or so, at the very least, I’ll just shut up), how about you turn off your computer and go plant a tree.