https://reason.com/blog/2018/05/04/us-carbon-dioxide-emissio...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2017/10/24/yes-the-u-s-...
While total overall emissions (in the U.S.) may be steady or shrinking, the total amount of emissions for transportation is growing. There's no excuse for that. All it tells us is that an overall reduction in GHG emissions could be even lower if people made slightly more conscientious transport choices.
Just curious how you know this to be true.
I'm sure not everyone has a 'good' reason, but a fair number of people do make a conscious choice.
As far as what families feel they "need", I think it represents a larger societal issue around how we manage vehicle use and ownership. Most pickup trucks I see on the road aren't hauling cargo. And most 7 or 8 passenger SUVs have 1 or 2 people in them.
> Also, heavier vehicles are safer for the passengers.
Yes, for the passengers in that particular vehicle. More dangerous for others on the road who can't afford or are unwilling to purchase a similarly sized vehicle.
They absolutely do, it's about spite and punishing other people:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/05/business/energy-environme...
>“Why don’t you go live in Sweden and get the heck out of our country,” Mr. Blue wrote.” I will continue to roll coal anytime I feel like and fog your stupid eco-cars.”
http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/29/17971903-to-figh...
>The negative impact of environmental messaging became apparent when 210 study participants were given $2 to go light bulb shopping. When energy efficient, but more costly, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) were sold with a sticker that read "Protect the Environment," conservatives shied away from them.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelt...
>Taking joy in that suffering is more human than most would like to admit. Somewhere on the wide spectrum between adolescent teasing and the smiling white men in the lynching photographs are the Trump supporters whose community is built by rejoicing in the anguish of those they see as unlike them, who have found in their shared cruelty an answer to the loneliness and atomization of modern life.
The article just describes what it is. It has no information on how prevalent the practice is.
Given that, I have a really hard time reconciling the "we just can't do anything, sorry, it'll hurt our freedoms" attitude with the "I don't care about my CO2 output" attitude that is evident in the consumption behaviours of most people I see. It's as if they consider outputting tonne after tonne of carbon into the atmosphere as a point of pride or immutable entitlement.