Filed under: SUVs, Etc., Green, HUMMER
Eco-thugs trash D.C. resident's HUMMER
Gareth Groves had his newly-acquired 2005 HUMMER H2 SUT on the road for just five days, and now it's out of commission. Groves lives in what a neighbor described to The Washington Post as "liberal leaning" community. That same person felt compelled to add that "It's ridiculous to be driving a HUMMER." Apparently, she's not the only one who felt that way.[Source: The Washington Post]
Groves' lifted and accessorized H2 didn't fit in his garage, so he had to street-park it in front of the house he and his mother share. After being the recipient of dirty looks and snarky comments for days, a pair of masked men decided to up the ante. We're guessing that since neither the G8 nor the WTO were gathered to provide them with an excuse and venue for wanton property destruction, the duo decided to take out their frustrations on a vehicle that conflicted with their ideology. All the windows were worked over with baseball bats, most of the lights were taken out (police believe a machete was used for that) and all four tires were knifed. In a parting shot, the crew scratched "FOR THE ENVIRON" into the paintwork, showing that they either got scared off early, ran out of bodywork to write on, or are illiterate morons. Possibly all of the above. A blogger friend of mine summed up the incident perfectly, calling it a case of "sanctimonious vandalism."
In the wake of the crime, Groves and a friend said that they've been getting smug, self-satisfied looks from some neighbors who pass by the now-damaged H2. They're not all taking pleasure in Groves' plight, though. One woman also quoted in the article admitted she disliked HUMMERs and owned a t-shirt that mocked the big SUVs. That shirt, she said, would likely be retired, as the act of vandalism disgusted her. She even called it a "hate crime" and pointed out that there are plenty of ways to make a statement without destroying someone's property. Groves wants to get the truck repaired, but he worries now that if he does, the same thing might happen again. The ideal solution would be to move out of a neighborhood infested with preening, judgemental jerks. Short of that, we recommend he replace the HUMMER with one of these (you know, return that love he's feeling) and then equip it with a security system from Q Branch. That would probably discourage further acts of vandalism rather permanently.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Ligor 1:39PM (7/23/2007)
and then run over some of the houses in his neighborhood when people are on vacation
hehehe
lol
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dave 6:11PM (7/23/2007)
What this guy has to do is go around and put a Pro-Big Oil bumper sticker (if they exists) on every Hybrid in his neighborhood. That'll definitely get a few of them smashed up.
Dinger 1:39PM (7/23/2007)
The thing these idiots don't get is that when the Hummer gets repaired it will require MORE evil plastics, carbon etc. and result in more stuff going into landfills that if they had just left the damn SUV alone.
But at least they feel like they're "sticking it to the man"!
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Mr. Oak 1:39PM (7/23/2007)
Do the ignorant bastards know that the Hummer over it's life is more Eco-friendly than their shitty little Priuses and Escapes.
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beaker 3:02PM (7/23/2007)
Unfortunately, eco-ignorance allows them to drive vehicles with huge, toxic batteries. Since Hollywood is doing it and Toyota says it's ok, it MUST be good for the environment.
Either way, no brains.
fizzandpop 1:55PM (7/23/2007)
Er, where do you get that from?
Joe K. 2:30PM (7/23/2007)
Errrr... The battery's chemicals and the shipping of the vehicle by boat to America mixed with a few other factors, even with the burning of less gas, actually are more harmful to the environment than the air pollution a Hummer (or for that matter many larger SUVs) will produce over the same timeline. I believe its a 10 year cycle because thats the anticipated battery life of a Prius. There was an article by Automotive News about it about one year ago. The myth of Hybrids or something similar
Peter 2:50PM (7/23/2007)
It was a wacko right wing made up report full of BS.
Fernando 2:55PM (7/23/2007)
Quote: "Do the ignorant bastards know that the Hummer over it's life is more Eco-friendly than their shitty little Priuses and Escapes."
Do you know the stats of that "study?" They estimated the Hummer at a usable life of 300K miles and the Prius at a usable life of 100K miles. That seems a bit skewed, don't you think? Why don't they say use the same mileage for both?
Mr. Oak 2:56PM (7/23/2007)
Fizzandpop:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20070404_Hidden_cost_of_driving_a_Prius.html
This excerpt from that article can easily be verified.
But it's not just the clouds of greenhouse gases generated by all that smelting, refining, manufacturing and transporting that worries green activists. The 1,250-foot-tall smokestack that spews huge puffs of sulphur dioxide at the Sudbury mine and smelter operation has left a large swath of the surrounding area looking like a surrealistic scene from the depths of hell.
On the perimeter of the area, skeletons of trees and bushes stand like ghostly sentinels guarding a sprawling wasteland. Astronauts in training for NASA actually have practiced driving moon buggies on the suburban Sudbury tract because it's considered a duplicate of the Moon's landscape.
"The acid rain around Sudbury was so bad it destroyed all the plants, and the soil slid down off the hillside," David Martin, Greenpeace's energy coordinator in Canada, told the London Daily Mail.
Mr. Oak 3:06PM (7/23/2007)
http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/sudbury/nickel/01_nickel.pdf
Fizzpop, you don't take the word of a GreenPeace kook, go to this link read page 2 paragraph 2.1
letstakeawalk 4:40PM (7/23/2007)
The Prius currently uses a NiMH Battery. "The battery pack of the 2004 Prius is warranteed for 160,000 km (100,000 miles) or 8 years, although Toyota has stated that they expect it to last 15 years. The warranty is extended to 240,000 km (150,000 miles) or 10 years for Prius in California and several other states" (from Wiki). I couldn't find a quote for the price of a replacement battery, but Toyota is supposed to recycle every one of them. Compared to a Hummer's V8 which should last well past a quarter-million miles with proper maintenance, the life span of a Prius drivetrain would indeed be much shorter, necessitating more frequent replacement. This could be good if it is replaced with an even more efficient vehicle and properly recycled, or it could be bad if it is improperly disposed of (say crash and burn accident?). Which car is better, I don't know. Of course, I live close enough to my job to walk...
John Metcalf 8:14PM (7/23/2007)
Wonder how long a Hummer's 37" tires last compared to the tires of a Prius? Thats a lot of rubber that has to be replaced. And I wonder what damage the very heavy H2 does to roads compared to the Prius, taking more resources to repair public surfaces?
Pixel 8:42AM (7/24/2007)
letstakeawalk:
So the Prius is only considered viable for as long as the warranty lasts, but the H2 is considered viable for *three times* it's warranty period? That doesn't seem biased to you?
Yes, the Prius will likely need it's battery pack replaced at some point. But the H2 may well need the engine and/or transmission rebuilt at some point as well. I'd be very interested to see the numbers for the h2 for just the 100K warranty period.
Avinash machado 1:39PM (7/23/2007)
I think Al Gore should be asked to reimburse the repair costs.
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Blake 5:06PM (7/23/2007)
Yeah, that's some fine logic right there.
Calebe 1:39PM (7/23/2007)
Radicals give any view a bad name. I hope they catch whom ever did it.
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nissanfreak87 1:44PM (7/23/2007)
wow, that's an appropriate way for a couple of adults to act, it's stupid stuff like this that makes me loose all respect for the "I'm better than you because I drive a hybrid" crowd. I'm not a fan of Priuses, but I'm not going to vandalize one and break the law to get my point across.
seriously people, act like adults, understand that people have other views than you and get over it, talk to the person that you don't like or agree with, don't cause thousands in damage in a childish stunt.
maybe he should buy an actual monster truck, more monster than the SEMA 650 in the link above, and crush their cars, see how they like that.
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chairman 1:49PM (7/23/2007)
I hate Hummers too, but trashing someone's personal property is just wrong. It's extremists like this that give the environmental movement a bad name.
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Nick 1:50PM (7/23/2007)
I don't like Hummers at all, but I respect that people are free to choose whatever they want to drive. This act of vandalism isn't doing any side any favors.
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