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“We believe the Risen Lord Jesus cares about what we drive…Obeying Jesus in our
transportation choices is one of the great Christian obligations and opportunities of the twenty-
first century.”
--- Evangelical Environmental Network, “What Would Jesus Drive?”
“We are using ridicule and social embarrassment to change the habits of the American consumer.
Increasing publicity will turn the SUV from a status trinket to the badge of shame that it is.”
--- “I’m Changing the Climate, Ask Me How” website
“When was the last time that you saw people almost come to blows over the Apple vs. the PC, or
the cell phone vs. the regular old telephone? There is a level of divisiveness about SUVs and the
selfishness that some people attribute to their drivers that causes enormous friction in our
society.”
--- Daniel Becker of the Sierra Club, quoted in Cooper 2003
Introduction
Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) have taken America by storm.
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Take a drive around the
block or a glance in any parking lot and it is clear that the size of our personal vehicles is
expanding almost as fast as our waistlines. Yet the popularity of SUVs has created a backlash
among a diverse set of unexpected allies, including Christian evangelicals, Hollywood
celebrities, members of a radical environmental group called the Earth Liberation Front, and
individual Internet activists. Sports Utility Vehicles—and their drivers—are accused of being un-
Christian, destroyers of the environment, aids to terrorists, road hogs, and just plain ugly and
rude. Anti-SUV campaigners are beginning to transform these complaints into requests for
policy changes: they are asking auto manufacturers to redesign SUVs so that they are more safe
and fuel-efficient, lobbying Congress to close tax loopholes that encourage SUV sales, and
urging consumers to think seriously about their vehicle choices and needs. Some of these
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Sales of these large, truck-like passenger vehicles comprise up to 25% of total U.S. vehicle sales (David Crary,
“Americans both love, hate SUVs,” Daily Iowan, 1/30/03). The exact percentage of total vehicle sales depends on
whether “crossover” SUV models are included in the calculation. (Crossover models are built on a car chassis rather
than a light truck frame, but are designed in the SUV style.) Half of the vehicles on the road today are either SUVs,
trucks, or mini-vans (Cooper 2003, 459).
Convention