[therealdrag0]

I really dislike that I have a SUV, but TBH I find them WAY more comfortable than sedans. Maybe it'c suz I'm tall, maybe cuz I have tight hamstrings and fragile lower-back. I donno. I'm really itching to get an hybrid/electric SUV, but for hybrid it's hard to swallow spending 10k more for like <10mpg more. The only exception being the new rav4 which would be like 20mpg more AFAICT.

I recently started paying my utility company extra for green energy enough to offset my entire carbon footprint, including car and it's like $15 a month, so that's a lot of years of ICE before $10k delta difference is overcome...

I never really thought of it until I did this but converting cars seems like a pretty inefficient (per dollar) way of reducing carbon.

[InitialLastName]

Slightly OT, but if I were a company selling an "Offset your whole carbon footprint" subscription, I would charge $15/month too (with a bunch of "calculations" in the background to justify it).

[therealdrag0]

Here's the program: https://www.pse.com/green-options/Renewable-Energy-Programs/...

I am nervous about the carbon-offset space, but what warmed me to the idea is it's through my utility so it should be straightforward to measure/calculate/act, as opposed to farm/rainforest protection which is a lot more fussy with much more unknown side-affects.

And part of the justification is the state's regulation requires them to sell you the cheapest power, so it makes sense that you can volunteer for slightly more expensive power that is more green. Also the program is certified by green-e and apparently endorsed by NREL.gov.

And FWIW, it's not a "offset your whole footprint" program; I just used a national kwh-co2 calculator to calculate how much green power I would need to put into the market to offset my entire footprint (instead of only paying to offset the power I use). So very napkin math-y.

[fomine3]

I'm not American, I'm curious why Americans didn't like SUVs so much until recently. IIRC they liked larger sedans and pickups?

[therealdrag0]

Besides what the sibling comment said my brainstorming is: - Culture - Cost (sedans are cheaper), but income has gone up, especially in suburbs. - More people living in urban areas with more money, but our urban areas still need cars. People who would buy a truck if they were rural, buy a SUV when suburban. - Smaller family sizes so minivan isn't needed. - Gas prices have plummeted so worse MPG doesn't matter as much compared to sedans.

[quicklyfrozen]

SUVs are a relatively recent phenomenon, with some exceptions such as the Wagoneer. And we did like large cars, but switched to minivans as cars downsized, then switched to SUVs as Minivans become stigmatized.

And even if you're ambivalent about SUVs, after a while you start thinking "It'd be nice to be able to see beyond this giant block in front of me".