I was just reading this article (link borrowed from TorgoX). This is the sort of crap that gives us honest environmentalists a bad name. I wonder how much toxic smoke went into the air from burning metal and paint? Some of these idiots are probably driving 30 year old beaters that pump out 50 times the pollution of current vehicles.
I have a friend who works for Bosch (and used to work for Detroit Diesel and Daimler-Chrysler). According to some of the references he gave me (which I don't have handy), vehicles only create 8% of the CO2 emissions worldwide. It may be slightly higher, but the point is that auto-manufacturers are hardly the main culprit for CO2 emissions. You can look to factories (especially the pre-cold war factories in Eastern Europe and Russia which haven't been upgraded).
That being said, I still think investment in alternative energy sources for automobiles is a wise idea in the long run.
Funny thing about many self-proclaimed environmentalists - I find that most people are willing to talk the talk, but not walk the walk. How many of you drive a hybrid? How many of you recycle? How many of you use rechargable batteries? How many of you have signed up for your local energy company's alternative energy program?
