No Increase in CAFE or the Dog Gets It
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07.27.07
(no dogs were harmed in the production of this post, picture is from 1972)
When GM launched the Volt, Kristi noted "It has surprised many to see GM throw their hat in the hybrid ring as such a formidable competitor." Now we may be learning why they did. Joe Romm suggests "GM is using the Volt the same way it used fuel cell cars to kill the electric car in California." he points to an article in Edmunds:
General Motors' North American operations chief, Troy Clarke, is meeting with legislators on Capitol Hill today, and he's bringing along the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid prototype. GM hopes the Volt will help convince lawmakers that electric and alternative-fuel vehicles are the route to energy independence. The Big Three have strenuously opposed a proposed increase in CAFE standards, saying the cost of meeting higher mpg averages would take away resources that could be put toward development of alternative-energy vehicles.
So, Congresspeople, "No increase in CAFE or the Volt gets it." ::Climate Progress
Please remove this photo of the dog with the gun to it's head.
It may be a joke but what if that was your dog? What if a child saw that image without explanation? It's offensive and is not something I expect to see on this website!
LA: We are considering it.....
If you want to make a point.Stop pointing the gun at the dogs head.Point it at gores head.
My dog is a faithful friend and companion.Not a target.
Never point a gun at anything you do not intend to kill.
Are you promoting animal cruelty?
Or stupidity?
Bad gun ownership?
Dogs are better friends than most people.They don't judge.What they know is loyalty.No more of this stupid shit.I posted a remark on the previous photo like this.
IT NEVER APPEARED.I WONDER WHY.
Brian:
thanks for your comment about the dog. This is from a very famous National Lampoon magazine cover in 1972 (the version I had used had a photoshopped dog, I have changed it to the original cover) that made a point about the way people use such images and ideas to market things. You can see the original here.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/07/times-a-million.html
You can read about it in Wikipedia here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lampoon
I thought that it made a strong point about the behaviour of GM, and feel strongly that it should stay up. I have, however changed the picture to dog from the original cover, and have added a disclaimer.
I am sorry if you are offended, but I feel that it makes a point and want to leave it as modified.
I fondly remember National Lampoon and its daring and innovative comedy which was as much social comment as humor. It's probably true some of your readers are too young to remember it, or were too old fogey in the 70s to appreciate it.
Don't take it down. Consider it is an opportunity to explain to people the difference between fiction and reality.
Every game the big three play to avoid increasing fuel economy just makes it that much more likely that future car sales will go to Toyota and Honda.
As such, the photo really should be of a gun pointed not at a dog but at a foot (i.e. shooting yourself in the foot).
Mr Alter,
You posted a disclaimer. Thanks.
I'm still offended. Why? Your title.
I've read your article. I've read the articles to which you link.
I don't get the need for your title or picture. I get sarcasm, irony and most times, context. I don't get the impetus to use these for this issue, and then defending them despite concerns.
Those who care enough to write their concerns to you have had some pretty good suggestions. Treehugger and you, I believe, can do better.
Grist for the Mill.
Lloyd,
Allow me to be the little devil on your shoulder. Simply because some of your readers are deficient in their cultural literacy doesn't mean you should tap-dance around the issues. National Lampoon helped get America through some terribly bad times, and their legacy endures today in the Onion, in The Daily Show, in innumerable important discussions, comic and serious.
I'm sorry, but once the context of this image is explained, no one should be offended. When the chief of the South Vietnamese secret police shot a guy in cold blood and the US networks put it on TV, were poeple justified in being offended? No.
This is just purely bad writing and public relations. Using a cliche about "the dog gets it" is bad enough, using it in desperate vain to try and get something catchy to a story without much catch to it is like two levels below hell. Or maybe it was so the "has been" author (quoted from his profile) could use the photo rather than get a catch to the story. Regardless, bringing in controversy to attract attention to oneself rather than one's story is PR negative 101. Oh, yeah... what was that story about again???
Quit obsessing on the pic and focus on the story.
Any corporation that tries very hard to prove it can police itself without legislation is begging not to be trusted. If they do police themselves and hold up those standards, they should WANT the law, because it would make for more trouble for their non-compliant competition.
Also, I feel that they should stop acting like the Volt proves they care about the environment. They've spent too much time fighting progress and being confused about what America wants (Sad, considering that they live here) to develop a good hybrid system. Now, they finally have something, but it needs so much development, it's pretty clear a plug in Prius will beat the Volt to the market. Maybe they're just starting to care, but it looks like too little, too late, especially compared to the EV1, which is now 10 years old, I believe.
To be blunt.This use of this photo is stupid.As a K-9 officer i find it revolting.I suggest you try this with thor.He would rip off your hand.I would not be inclined to stop him.This is stupid and crass.
The story is about the auto companies doing exactly what the editor charicatures in National Lampoon did, which is hold an innocent and good thing (energy savings) hostage to short term greed and avarice. Critics of this image want us to believe that the National Lampoon went around shooting dogs.
Energy savings are actually quite important (and if you don't believe it, man did you walk into the wrong place.)
Why am I harping on this? Because we can't backslide into those darks part of human history where no one could say anything controversial without getting attacked for it. Images are just that, images. Humor is just that, humor. Neither ever killed anybody. Censorship, however, has allowed the worlds' dictators to get away with murder.
Humorless vegans have taken over this blog's comments.
"Humorless vegans have taken over this blog's comments."
+1
I enjoyed the article and found it insightful.
cheers
I tend to agree with the notion that GM is using this "new" technology (ref: EV1) to try and justify the non-upping the standards on all cars. They had a long time to put $$s into R&D while making 20mpg SUVs and what do they have to show for it... a re-hashed EV1 called Volt. Ironically "volt" in Hungarian means "been" like it was in the past. Anyway, this is a marketing scheme. A glorified version of a special interest group trying to keep the status quo of selfishness. While Toyota and Honda put their money where their mouth is (ref: Prius, Insight, etc, etc) and beating the pants off the competition, GM is completely out of touch with what the public wants / needs but rather trying to dictate what it wants / needs with its marketing... selfish idiots - they're going down.
From a journalistic standpoint, the picture is failing you, Mr. Real Time News Poster. I mean, look at who your audience is and think about how they will obviously react. The vast majority of comments are about the picture with no mention of the article. For the sake of getting your point across, no picture would have been far more effective than that thing. I'm equally surprised your editors didn't see that coming. What was the article about again?
I read these posts.The photo and the article have nothing to do with each other.The photo is humorless.It promotes animal cruelty and stupidity.Not to mention bad gun ownership.
How would the author feel if i put a revolver to his head?Maybe a shotgun?Even a photo can inspire stupidity.If i photo shop a pic can i post it here?
The reality is the photo use is stupid.Lloyd Alter should be ashamed of himself.
I would expect better of this site.If you want to kill something. kill yourself Lloyd.
Do you watch the news?Remember that vic guy.The football player.
I used to have treehugger bookmarked. i don't anymore.
you're a great site, an important site, but you just showed a bit
of your insensitive underside. point the gun at something that deserves it, or, here's a thought, point the gun at nothing at all.
The photo is humorless.
An old cover from Mad Magazine is humorless? I think the problem isn't with the signal, it's with the receiver.
Wow... controversy at it's finest.
The oil companies fund several dozens of environmental organizations for several reasons:
1) so their employees are happy
2) so they can point at the one good thing they did to show they care in a court of law
3) so the environmentalists don't do anything too far beyond their scope.
4) so they can nail competition
5) so they can cause blindness in the other side if something really sucks.
For the same reasons, car companies fund these useless, ugly concept cars that nobody wants.
For the same reasons, drug companies are intrinsically linked to food companies.
For the same reasons, weapons companies are linked with top military brass and diplomats.
You'll figure it out eventually.
Wow.
I'm very late to this entry but I LOVE the image.
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lampoon_magazine
it's the January 1973 cover photo for National Lampoon Magazine.
But the funniest part of this entry is reading all the comments.
In closing; "Post this comment or the dog gets it".
Keep smiling,
Sally
environmentalists fail at having a sense of humor lol