I ran across this editorial and was a little stunned.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20070404_Hidden_cost_of_driving_a_Prius.html
So...
The basic argument is that you are still consuming less gas driving a Prius, but there are still some thoughts about the damage to the environment and that no one is really sure how long the battery will last.
The nickel for the battery, for instance, is mined in Sudbury, Ontario, and smelted at nearby Nickel Centre, just north of the province's massive Georgian Bay. Toyota buys about 1,000 tons of nickel from the facility each year, ships the nickel to Wales for refining, then to China, where it's manufactured into nickel foam, and then onto Toyota's battery plant in Japan.
That alone creates a globe-trotting trail of carbon emissions that ought to seriously concern everyone involved in the fight against global warming. All told, the start-to-finish journey travels more than 10,000 miles - mostly by container ship, but also by diesel locomotive.
I wonder how much energy and resources are used with a normal vehicle. What about harmful effects on the environment?
There are many other scary facts in the editorial. Acid rain and the study that showed Hummers are more economical.So, now what do I buy?
