By Brendan McLaughlin

I’m going to give John Edwards the benefit of the doubt and assume he doesn’t really expect millions of Americans to throw the keys to their SUV’s into a well.  That would pollute the well for one thing. And what are we going to do with a vast fleet of decommissioned Wranglers? Make pop art sculptures?  Edward’s pledge to ask the nation to give up its SUV’s was in answer to a question at a union meeting on Tuesday in Lake Buena Vista . He probably meant that we should phase out fuel inefficient SUV’s in favor of more environmentally friendly vehicles over time.  Not a bad idea, even from a guy with a 28,000 square foot home. Where Edwards gets it wrong is with his statement, “I believe Americans are actually willing to sacrifice”. 

Sacrifice is sending your son to Iraq. Sacrifice is rationing milk, eggs, rubber and tin.  Sacrifice is not turning in your Bronco for a Prius. I drive a Prius and believe me, it’s more of an indulgence than a hardship. Forget the gas savings- which are considerable. In comfort, convenience and cargo space, I’ll put my Toyota up against most any SUV on the road.  I moved my daughter and all her possessions into her dorm room in North Carolina in one trip and slightly over one tank of gas. No sacrifice necessary.

At a time when every fill-up goes to enrich  repressive regimes that are directly and indirectly funding the “terror” side of the War on Terror”,  burning less gasoline is simply the  right thing to do. If you have to ferry five kids to school every day, by all means, drive a Suburban.  But fueling up a 6,000 pound truck to cart your lone skinny butt to the mall is the kind of waste that has consequences.  A particularly coarse acquaintance of mine suggests that fuel efficiency ratings  include “Marines killed per mile”- a sick joke to be sure, but it makes a point.