Sierra Mazda’s Guide to Green Driving: Part 7
Drive Less
Southern California Beach
This may seem obvious, but a hybrid driven 20,000 miles a year is probably polluting more than a new SUV driven 7,000 miles per year. To the extent that a hybrid owner feels liberated to drive more because of the efficiency of his or her vehicle, the impact on the environment could be detrimental rather than beneficial. Keep in mind also that miles-per-gallon is only a measure of the impact on global warming. The emission of criteria pollutants (NOx, lead, CO, particulates, ozone and SOx), which are responsible for smog, is a different measure than for CO2, which correlates with miles per gallon and global warming. Low miles per gallon comes with high CO2 emissions which will change the climate for our children. Criteria pollutants hurt us now.
