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People buy hybrids to express their identities

UC-Davis researchers are looking into why people buy hybrids. Instead of having them fill out checklist forms, they're sitting down and interviewing buyers for up to two hours.

They have discovered, shockingly, that people are not rational maximizing machines who put together spreadsheets on the relative merits of auto choices along various axes -- fuel economy, size, quality, etc. -- over a lifetime.

No, turns out purchasing a car in America is largely an emotional decision, one bound up with issues of identity and values.

This is a bit of a head-slapper, but for some bizarre reason the mainstream press doesn't seem to get it.

To those of us who do get it, perhaps the more interesting question is: What values are people expressing when they purchase a hybrid?

This (via Treehugger) is from an interview with the researchers on HybridCars.com:

There are common meanings that run through our interviews. And there are often some individual meanings as well. Preserving the natural environment is the obvious meaning of the hybrid, but it's a lot deeper than that. What we hear from people is that when they buy a hybrid vehicle, it expresses their vision of a better world, and their desire for a society and a world where people work together for common goals.

That's powerful stuff, the kind of stuff politicians wish they could bottle.

Visions of a better world sell. Apocalyptic doomsaying doesn't. Environmentalists, take note.

One-click activism

This is kinda nifty: Go to The Rainforest Site, click on the big green button, and voila, thanks to their sponsors you've "funded the preservation of 11.4 square feet of endangered rainforest."

Might as well drop by a click once a day, no?

(via Digg)

It could get ugly.

The L.A. Times story starts off tauntingly:

In a case that echoes the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, two Northern California Republican congressmen used their official positions to try to stop a federal investigation of a wealthy Texas businessman who provided them with political contributions.

Could it be?

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus:

Reps. John T. Doolittle and Richard W. Pombo joined forces with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas to oppose an investigation by federal banking regulators into the affairs of Houston millionaire Charles Hurwitz, documents recently obtained by The Times show. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was seeking $300 million from Hurwitz for his role in the collapse of a Texas savings and loan that cost taxpayers $1.6 billion.

Hee hee! Looks like the seemingly quixotic quest to bring Pombo down might not be quite so quixotic after all.

Mark Schmitt puts the story in context:

Mmm … prefab

Man do I love me some prefab. Over at Worldchanging, Jill Fehrenbacher and Sarah Rich have a great roundup of some new prefab projects in Australia. I particularly dig the deck_house.

Mike Millikin's Week in Sustainable Transportation is worth reading too, as always.

LEED condos

Speaking of condos receiving LEED certification, I just found out about a week ago that literally right across the street from me, they're in the process of building what is to be Seattle's first LEED Silver Certified condo building: the Hjarta. Seems I bought too soon.

Then again, prices will probably be through the roof.

Kolbert report

This week's New Yorker has another fantastic piece from Elizabeth Kolbert on global warming: "Butterfly Lessons." It's a fairly detailed look at the effect of climate change on a range of butterfly and frog species.

It's not online (yet?), but Kolbert is rapidly becoming reason enough to subscribe to the magazine. I can't wait for her book.

All Awkward Pauses Considered

I was on the radio, doing a humorless slow-drone thing when I think maybe they wanted some zest and wit and, um, brevity.

New EPA fuel economy regs

The EPA's long-awaited and more accurate fuel-economy calculations will debut next week.

Poor safety enforcement led to the tragedy

The Sago mine disaster was first and foremost an incredible tragedy. (I challenge you to read this story and not get a tear in your eye.) I haven't said anything about it because in my experience most initial reports around accidents like this are exaggerated or plain wrong -- and that was certainly the case in Sago.

But now that the dust is clearing a little bit, there seems to be a growing consensus that the accident was, if not the direct result, at least indirectly related to a woeful lack of enforcement on the part of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. And that, of course, has to do with the coal industry's extraordinary friendliness with the Bush administration (though previous administrations, including Clinton's and Bush I's, share plenty of responsibility).

Start with today's NYT editorial, but for details and background, check out the guest posts from Ellen Smith, the editor of Mine Safety and Health News, over on Washington Monthly: here, here, and here. ThinkProgress also has some good stuff here, here, and here.

Update [2006-1-6 14:28:57 by David Roberts]: More from Jordan Barab.

Trawl of Tears

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