Published Nov. 22, 2003

ORLANDO, Fla. - Lynette Woide stayed home one recent
afternoon so that someone from Progress Energy, the local
utility, could check the house she has lived in for 20
years to make sure it was as energy efficient as possible.

"It's important to me to be a good steward with what we've
been given," said Ms. Woide, who recently replaced the
windows in her living room to conserve air-conditioning. "I
think Americans are kind of wasteful. There isn't an
unending supply of what we have."

But in her small garage sits a Chevrolet Blazer, a sport
utility vehicle that Ms. Woide estimates gets 17 miles a
gallon. It is a company car that she chose because it helps
her haul things for work, she said. Then again, she
recalled, "I could haul a lot of stuff in my Taurus, too."
A Taurus gets about 30 percent better gas mileage, on
average, the Environmental Protection Agency says.


Mark Rutecki, a 37-year-old lawyer, moved to Celebration, FL,
from Miami six years ago. On his license plate is an
endangered Florida panther; the license plate is on a
Hummer. He said he bought the vehicle, which weighs 6,000
pounds, because he thought it would protect his wife and
two small children. But, he added, "recently I've started
wondering what people think" about his owning such a
vehicle, which gets about 12 miles to the gallon.

"It's not as bad as everyone thinks," he said. "The way I
think about it, we're close today to switching to a
hydrogen economy, so it won't matter what mileage we get on
cars now. I think that will happen soon."



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