To ask how drivers of massive SUVs square it with themselves in terms of climate change?

[Bleepingtons]

Same goes for those who go long haul on the regular? Buy loads of cheap, disposable fashion? Etc etc? Do you just not worry about climate change?

I know I sound sanctimonious but I am genuinely baffled by people driving massive diesel SUVs like there isn't a major issue.

I have four children and need a buggy for one of them, so a large car is the only thing that will transport us all barring public transport.

We live very rurally and there's no busses to speak of. Cycling to primary school is not feasible because I can't cycle 6 miles with four kids under 10 to put three of them in school and then cycle ) miles back home with the baby.

I square it with myself because it is necessary.

@Bleepingtons

Same goes for those who go long haul on the regular? Buy loads of cheap, disposable fashion? Etc etc? Do you just not worry about climate change?

I know I sound sanctimonious but I am genuinely baffled by people driving massive diesel SUVs like there isn't a major issue.

i drive a 3.1 deisel automatic that does 18 mpg! it was bought to serve a purpose of towing our caravan, if we didnt have that car than we couldnt have the caravan i had always dreamed of owning! yes i use the car just about every day, the normal stuff of picking up the grand kids from school and doing my shopping etc and going for days out in it. in the winter it becomes my husbands snow vehicle to get him to work 25 miles away in the snowy conditions as and when we get them. i then use his car which is also a deisel! why on earth should i be made to feel that i have too explain to anyone why i own that car? im not going to change it i have owned it for the last 20 years! the car is 26 years old! and each year it goes thr its mot and passes without issue because we look after or stuff.

when we first got the car i would often help others out during the winter when they got stuck, but to be honest with you im so sick and tire of all this flack we keep getting then im afraid to say no get on with it, i bought the car that is suitable for us and we dont rely on anyone, maybe others should also do the same too?

do i worry about climate change? a very small amount maybe, but its nothing that consummes my daily thoughts or makes me change my plans, and as for trying to blame suvs saying their is a major issue? well thats only depending on what newspaper you wish to stuff your head with that week, remember it wasnt that long back we where all told to buy deisels as they where better to run that a petrol, and now they are the devils transport, oh really so where is the electric car that can tow my caravan to cornwall and back without tking my full entiltlement of holiday just to spend it either on the motorway or sat looking at a charging point? it would take me 6 days to get down to cornwall and then the same back!

To quote someone else -
The world doesn’t need a handful of people doing climate conscious perfectly; it needs millions of people doing it imperfectly.

@halloweenqwueeeen

I think it’s safer in a big car and would fare a lot better if I was in a crash in my SUV than the mini I used to drive. I need my DD to be as safe as possible.

Learn to drive & don't crash then you absolute plum!!

I personally wonder how people who buy anything made in China square it with themselves.
China is currently building hundreds of coal- fired power stations, has no intention of tackling climate change and must be so happy the West is too greedy to stop buying their goods made cheaply by the exploitation of Chinese people and cheap, dirty manufacturing processes which promote climate change.

We are avoiding anything made in China this Christmas, thought it takes quite a bit of research and planning.

In the long term this would have far more impact than whether a family keeps their SUV.

@uder12340865

Truthfully I don't really care. I can't have children so don't have the 'what about my kids' argument. Plus those that do have children have a far worse carbon footprint than I do with my car. I could get an electric car but won't until they address the waste created by batteries that can't be disposed of.

Plus, to be frank, until countries like China sort their impact on the environment out, me swapping my pretty green SUV for an electric car will make very little difference

Snap! No kids, I live in the countryside, there is no local charging ports for electric cars plus I have 3 dogs & 2 elderly parents, one registered disabled. As a result I have a petrol SUV because diesel is worse. I haven't been on holiday in years & really go out for essential travel - dog walking, vet, Dr/hospital appointments etc. My vehicle has stop/start technology so switches off whilst I'm waiting in traffic. 🤷🏼‍♀️

@HappyAsASandboy

I have four children and need a buggy for one of them, so a large car is the only thing that will transport us all barring public transport.

We live very rurally and there's no busses to speak of. Cycling to primary school is not feasible because I can't cycle 6 miles with four kids under 10 to put three of them in school and then cycle ) miles back home with the baby.

I square it with myself because it is necessary.

But if you live that far from.the catchment school then the LA has to provide transport

@TheFairyCaravan

I’ve got an SUV because I need one.

Every single one of you who judges someone driving an SUV is an utter dick. Try getting a mobility scooter, or wheelchair, and hoist in a small hatchback and i think you’ll find it won’t fit. Try being riddled with arthritis, having metal plates in your back and pelvis and see if you can get into a low down car and I think you’ll find you can’t.

For some of us the choice of what we drive is very limited. We can’t just hop on public transport, get on a bike or walk to the shops. I’d much rather have a small electric hatchback than a life of severe pain and immobility if I had the option.

I hear you! I'm riddled with arthritis/lupus/hypermobility AND I'm a carer for my mum who's had several strokes. No way will a Renault Zoe work in our household. I had to sell my saloon a few years back for my SUV because I was struggling to get in/out of it & my mum couldn't get in or fit her mobility aids in the boot.

China is currently building hundreds of coal- fired power stations, has no intention of tackling climate change and must be so happy the West is too greedy to stop buying their goods made cheaply by the exploitation of Chinese people and cheap, dirty manufacturing processes which promote climate change

You may not like China, that’s fine. But Chinese people aren’t being exploited, their living standards have literally exploded because of their productive economy. This is a good thing.

It’s also a good thing to support your local economy too, though. China is very good at the mass produced item but UK should be good at the higher-end stuff … ideally

We have two SUVs (petrol, not diesel) We have 3 small kids all still in chunky car seats, we live in the desert (ok, not literally but we frequently have to drive over unmade roads, through sand etc), in a city where the majority of roads are six lane highways and people drive like shit.

A SUV makes me feel safer, it’s as simple as that.

(If it’s any consolation, I loathe fast fashion and try and do my bit where I can - reusable nappies etc)

@UsedUpUsername this is a high profile example but there are plenty more:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/09/cotton-slave-labor-uyghur-region-china

But as this thread is on climate change rather than China’s appalling human rights record, I’ll stick to the fact that a family SUV will have far less effect on the climate than that family’s buying decisions and consequential support of massive polluters such as China and India who laugh at our ignorant hypocrisy.

[quote CamQ]@UsedUpUsername this is a high profile example but there are plenty more:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/09/cotton-slave-labor-uyghur-region-china

But as this thread is on climate change rather than China’s appalling human rights record, I’ll stick to the fact that a family SUV will have far less effect on the climate than that family’s buying decisions and consequential support of massive polluters such as China and India who laugh at our ignorant hypocrisy.[/quote]
I would never deny that Uyghers are being oppressed. It’s a bit different than saying that Chinese labour is being exploited.

Like it or not, the average Chinese person has seen their living standards rise to an unprecedented level. I still maintain this is a good thing—no one else has been able to fight back poverty at the scale China has. I’ve lived in China many years, the changes in living standards has been nothing short of extraordinary.

(yes, I should be specific that it’s primarily Han Chinese and not their more ‘troublesome’ ethnic minorities benefiting)

Owning an SUV is a great indicator of being boring and rude, in my experience. This thread has only, powerfully, reinforced this to me

@JaniieJones

I'd feel a bit of a tit driving round in a big gas guzzler. Just get an electric car fgs, yes more expensive but if they can afford a big ugly range rover then EVs will obviously be in their price range too.

For those of us who live live in city flats in London an electric car just isn’t an option / we can’t all have a charging point on the drive! When the infrastructure is in place gif electric people will readily change, but it isn’t there yet.

Surely it's a choice to have large families and lots of dogs

Londoncallingme, lots of people in London don't own a car by choice

@UsedUpUsername

China is currently building hundreds of coal- fired power stations, has no intention of tackling climate change and must be so happy the West is too greedy to stop buying their goods made cheaply by the exploitation of Chinese people and cheap, dirty manufacturing processes which promote climate change

You may not like China, that’s fine. But Chinese people aren’t being exploited, their living standards have literally exploded because of their productive economy. This is a good thing.

It’s also a good thing to support your local economy too, though. China is very good at the mass produced item but UK should be good at the higher-end stuff … ideally

And it’s US that buy the stuff made in China!

We don’t have many factories left in UK - we buy vast shipping containers full of stuff from China

@Frankola

People with SUVs tend to have a lot of kids.

Having lots of kids isn't exactly good for the environment either.

Having lots of kids isn’t good for the planet - it’s got to become socially unacceptable going forward

Nobody NEEDS an SUV.

@MellieHouse

Owning an SUV is a great indicator of being boring and rude, in my experience. This thread has only, powerfully, reinforced this to me

🤣

And it’s US that buy the stuff made in China!

They don’t do it as a favour to you. They do it to
make money and improve their living standards.

Pity the UK has largely given up on manufacturing but that’s not the fault of China.

Also, China is rapidly selling their products to the developing world, it’s not really the case that they are ‘ruining’ their environment on behalf of Western economies.

@UsedUpUsername

And it’s US that buy the stuff made in China!

They don’t do it as a favour to you. They do it to
make money and improve their living standards.

Pity the UK has largely given up on manufacturing but that’s not the fault of China.

Also, China is rapidly selling their products to the developing world, it’s not really the case that they are ‘ruining’ their environment on behalf of Western economies.

Sure

My point is we can’t blame China for pollution and then buy stuff that we mostly don’t need. Piles of Xmas tat, a new iPhone, packaging, toys, souvenirs, tech etc

My point is we can’t blame China for pollution and then buy stuff that we mostly don’t need

You act as if Western economies stopped buying frivolous stuff from China, then they wouldn’t have such a pollution problem.

Manufacturing isn’t even the primary source of carbon emissions in China, construction would be it—and that’s entirely a domestic matter.

Manufacturing isn’t even the primary source of carbon emissions in China, construction would be it—and that’s entirely a domestic matter.

I’ve got some news for you about where manufacturing gets done. It’s usually inside.

(And then there are greater economic complexities - housing construction takes place due to increased prosperity increasing demand, increasing prosperity is partly driven by growing export markets, etc…)

Yeah, so giving up your 4x4 will save the planet. When Joe Biden flies on AirForce One to a climate change conference with 85 vehicles in his motorcade, the private jets landing equalled Scotland’s entire carbon footprint for a year and China and Russia didn’t even bother turning up. I’ll keep driving my Jaguar thanks.