Global Warming......

[niky]

Hybrid cars per se aren't an answer to Global Warming.

They're more expensive to manufacture, and the extra steps in their manufacture (construction of batteries, assist motors, etcetera...) means that their "carbon footprint" is actually larger than other vehicles even before they are sold. One study even suggests that their total contribution to global warming is equal to or higher than an SUV.

The best way for motorists to limit their "carbon footprint"? Buy the cheapest car possible. In fact, buy a cheap car with a tiny engine... like a Suzuki Alto. Keep it for as long as possible, to minimize the waste and carbon emissions from the disposal or recycling of your car when it's retired.

And drive sparingly. Walk when you can, or bicycle. Bus usage is good, but it's not ideal, either... better to take the LRT, when you can.

The Hybrid is a patch. A way of lowering your apparent carbon footprint, but having a minimal effect on your total contribution to carbon production. Better to buy a Honda Jazz 1.3 or a Picanto/Alto/Spark/etcetera... and plant some trees with the money you save off of the 2 million pesos plus the hybrid would cost.

[mazdamazda]

there are those who believe that man contributes so little to global warming. and countries are spending so much on it, money that could have been used to develop future technologies.

I agree with that.

It would have costed billions of dollars to lower carbon emmission while having only a little significant effect overall.

Heck, methane from the rice fields of Asia is more potent in warming up the earth than all the combined carbon dioxide releaed for the past few decades.

[Alpha_One]

When it comes to reducing your carbon footprint, hybrids are totally missing the point. But as a highly marketable idea and one that has such a positive image attached to it (hello Hollywood!), it's a completely different story.

Celebs, execs, and politicians owning a Prius, two Priuses, four Priuses, a Prius and an Escalade, a Prius and a couple of limousines, a Prius and a Ferrari...

If mass transit really is so much better than hybrids in reducing your carbon footprint, why aren't the celebs using it? It's simple. Hybrids are novel, expensive and exclusive. Walking to the station to catch a train to work is so low-class, like duh!

[VtEC]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070703/...e_missing_lake
SANTIAGO, Chile - Scientists on Tuesday blamed global warming for the disappearance of a glacial lake in remote southern Chile that faded away in just two months, leaving just a crater behind.
The disappearance of the lake in Bernardo O'Higgins National Park was discovered in late May by park rangers, who were stunned to find a 130-foot deep crater where a large lake had been.