Prius Politics: Or, Maybe People Aren't Just Raving Idiots?

I finally got around to reading Robert Samuelson's piece on 'Prius Politics.' The long and short of his argument is that most enviro goals are not really done with the goal of actually improving the planet. Instead, they are done for purposes of making yourself feel good about doing something, or even worse, making sure other people know that you're doing something. To wit:

Prius sales in the first half of 2007 totaled 94,503, nearly equal to all of 2006. Civic sales were only 17,141, up 7.4 percent from 2006. The Prius's advantage is its distinct design, which announces its owners as environmentally virtuous. It's a fashion statement.

I'm not particularly impressed with his rationale. For one thing, like Matthew said, tsk-tsking people for doing something to increase their status when it is, you know, actually a good thing (I think we can all, even non-enviro types, agree that burning less gasoline is a good thing in and of itself) is ridiculous. If something is good, then we should reward people for doing it. Increased status is a great way to reward something that requires some sacrifice (like driving a smaller car which costs extra money), because it doesn't actually cost the rest of us anything material at all.

For another, did it ever occur to Samuelson that people like the Prius because it actually makes more sense as a small car? It struck me when I went to Germany a couple years ago for work that almost every car I saw was either a station wagon or a hatchback. Plain old sedans and big SUV's seemed nearly unheard of. This only makes sense, really; in a world without SUV's, a hatchback is the ideal way to contain more space while using the same amount of metal and glass. No harder to build than a sedan, same mileage, same price, more space. Makes sense.

I am really excited to see the new generation of American ittybitty cars, which are all hatchbacks, such as the Nissan Versa, the Toyota Yaris, and the Hummer H3. Maybe we all buy the Prius because, since gas-sipping hybrids are going to be smaller cars, people appreciate the practicality of its body style.

But no, it's much more fun to shame people for conspicuous nonconsumption than to try and imagine what rational reason they might have for their actions...