Premium
“I'm Changing the Climate, Ask Me How!”: The Politics of the Anti‐SUV Campaign
Author(s) -
PRALLE SARAH
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
political science quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1538-165X
pISSN - 0032-3195
DOI - 10.1002/j.1538-165x.2006.tb00576.x
Subject(s) - politics , citation , political science , climate science , digging , library science , media studies , sociology , law , history , computer science , climate change , ecology , archaeology , biology
Sport utility vehicles (SUVs) have taken America by storm. Drive around the block or glance at any parking lot and it will become 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. Sport 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 safer and more 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 changes are in the works, while others, such as getting Americans to choose smaller vehicles, are difficult to imagine. As one com-