How SUVs Conquered the World—and Ruined the Environment – By Oliver Milman (Mother Jones) / Sept 8 2020
A mammoth, and growing, cause of the climate crisis has crept up almost unnoticed around us.
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This piece was originally published in the Guardian and appears here as part of our Climate Desk Partnership.
They are the hulking cars that have conquered the world. Spreading from the heartlands of the US to a new generation of eager buyers in China to dominate even the twisting, narrow streets of Europe, the sports utility vehicle, or SUV, has bludgeoned its way to automobile supremacy with a heady mix of convenience and marketing muscle.
The rise of the SUV as the world’s pre-eminent car has been so rapid that the consequences of this new status—the altered patterns of urban life, air quality, pedestrian safety, where to park the things—are still coming into focus.
But it’s increasingly clear that SUVs’ most profound impact is playing out within the climate crisis, where their surging popularity is producing a vast new source of planet-cooking emissions.
Continue to article: https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/09/how-suvs-conquered-the-world-and-ruined-the-environment/
