The Audacity of the Prius

Before I start my generalization, I know there are some Prius owners who will not fit the following profile. I just haven't found them yet.

Unlike American cars, many of which come with a factory equipped Obama bumper sticker, stuck on by a United Awful Worker, Prius owners have made a conscious choice to support Obama, just like they've made a choice about their car. These are people who feel they are superior to the rest of us.

In their warped minds, they are "concerned" and have taken action to help with global warming and other such green issues (non-existent to the rest of us who have done the homework).
They have a sense of smugness as they glance over when stopped at a light, thinking, "I'm better than you... I care."

I feel like rolling down my window to tell them that they've been hoodwinked into feeling superior. The truth is, the battery in the Prius is almost the equivalent of nuclear waste. It creates huge problems, because it can't be disposed of. Of course they wouldn't know that, because they read the New York Times.

Did you know that the Prius outdoes Hummer in environmental damage? Of course not!
Yes, the Toyota Prius, the flagship car for the environmentally conscious, is the source of some of the worst pollution in North America, and takes more combined energy to produce than a Hummer.

Consider:

* The nickel contained in the Prius' battery is mined and smelted at a plant in Ontario that has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the 'dead zone' around the plant to test moon rovers.

* Dubbed the Superstack, the factory has spread sulfur dioxide across northern Ontario, becoming every environmentalist's nightmare.

* Acid rain around the area was so bad it destroyed all the plants and the soil slid down off the hillside, according to Canadian Greenpeace energy-coordinator David Martin. After leaving the plant, the nickel travels to Europe, China, Japan and the United States, a hardly environmentally sound round the world trip for a single battery.

But that isn't even the worst part. According to a study by CNW Marketing, the total combined energy to produce a Prius (consisting of electrical, fuel, transportation, materials and hundreds of other factors over the expected lifetime), is greater than what it takes to produce a Hummer:

1. The Prius costs an average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles -- the expected lifespan of the Hybrid.

2. The Hummer, on the other hand, costs a more fiscal $1.95 per mile to put on the road over an expected lifetime of 300,000 miles.

3. That means the Hummer will last three times longer than a Prius and use almost 50 percent less combined energy doing it.

So the next time you pull up next to one of these people (probably a Government Worker or a member of the Teacher's Union), don't roll down your window... you'll never convince them of anything... they've been brainwashed. Just give them a thumbs up, and make their day. Remember these are the people who are all about feeling good about themselves. That's what really drives their decision-making process!