Citing statistics that show sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are three times more likely than cars to roll over in a crash, the attorneys general of 40 U.S. states and territories have sent a letter warning automakers to shelve ads that may mislead consumers into believing SUVs handle like cars.

The letter warns SUV manufacturers that such ads could be considered unfair and deceptive. That could leave the companies more vulnerable to civil lawsuits, CBC News reports.

Read more

If you want to set off an argument, especially in the Motor City, all you need to do is ask, "What would Jesus drive?"

But much as some people might want to keep faith separate from energy and environmental issues, the interfaith groups aren't going away. Despite the slogan of the car campaign, they come from many faiths. Despite the brashness of "What would Jesus drive?" they usually don't make themselves so visible. And when they're working behind the scenes, they almost always get a good reaction.

"People say, 'Gosh, I'm glad the church is involved in something I can relate to,' " said Sally Bingham, an Episcopal priest in California who is one of the pathfinders in bringing the faithful to the environment.

Read more

The annual rite of spring, where we pay homage to the environment, got its start in 1970, the brainchild of former Sen. Gaylord Nelson, D-Wis. Now 86, Nelson still is trumpeting his environmental agenda, focusing attention now on population issues.

"If you double the population or quadruple it, then the infrastructure has to double or quadruple," Nelson said. "One hundred million more cars would be added to the roads. What does that mean? The public has a right to know where the policies are leading the country.

"If 33 years had gone by and nobody wanted to be identified with Earth Day, it would have been a complete flop," Nelson told the Houston Chronicle. "Now everybody, even polluters, wants to be identified with Earth Day and that means the whole idea has been a success."

Read more

A study has found that one of every four children in central Harlem has asthma, which is double the rate researchers expected to find and, experts say, is one of the highest rates ever documented for an American neighborhood.

Researchers say the figures, from an effort based at Harlem Hospital Center to test every child in a 24-block area, could indicate that the incidence of asthma is even higher in poor, urban areas than was previously believed.

Read more (free registration required to read entire article)

Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it will miss its 2005 deadline for improving the fuel economy of its sport/utility vehicles by 25 percent -- a high-profile goal set by the world's second-largest automaker to much acclaim three years ago.

Phil Martens, Ford's vice president of product creation for North America, said Ford had decided to delay its SUV fuel economy improvements in favor of trying to reach a 20 to 30 percent improvement in average fuel economy across all the vehicles it sells in North America by the end of the decade.

Read more

You remember SUVs, those chrome-trimmed demons of the gas pump. They've been the objects of derision since at least November, when the Evangelical Environmental Network began asking, "What would Jesus drive?"

By the beginning of the year, they were also the targets of those who opposed the impending war in Iraq. The voracious appetite for petroleum by American drivers of gas-guzzlers -- aka SUV owners -- were a prime reason why we were going to war, they said.

So, it wasn't too surprising when SUV sales dropped in January to the lowest level in two years, forcing automakers to give huge financial incentives to potential SUV buyers. In the first two months of the year, SUV sales dropped by 2.6 percent.

Read more

As gas prices soar and war wages in Iraq, fuel economy becomes en vogue to more than just the environmentalists. SUVs are beginning to look like an antiquated excess of the excessive 1990s.

Automaker execs are noticing, too, acknowledging recently that they are keeping a close watch as the anti-SUV sentiment steadily builds among a young generation of auto buyers.

Last year's release of the BMW Mini Cooper heralded anti-SUV proclamations: "The SUV backlash has begun," and "Let's build bigger parks and smaller parking spaces."

Read more

They're oversize gas hogs that threaten the safety of drivers in more modest cars and jeopardize the security of the nation's energy supply. Even more, they're symbolic of a wasteful, immature society that's always looking for expensive new toys to play with.

No, they're sturdy vehicles that offer riders more protection in an accident and drivers better handling in bad weather and on poor roads. Plus they're fun to drive - and it's a free country.

If only life were more black and white, then the debate about sport utility vehicles wouldn't be so complicated.

Read more