Group Demonstrates Against Environmentally Disastrous Hummers

April 24, 2002 Sing Tao Daily (Western U.S. Edition)

(The Sing Tao Daily is the largest Chinese language daily in the USA)

Could you be driving a car that is an environmental hazard? On Earth Day the "Raging Grannies" demonstrated for about two hours at a Santa Clara car sales lot, but the dealerhsip was not happy about it. An employee of Silicon Valley Hummer came out of the showroom and started up the engine of a vehicle that the Grannies were standing near, to drown out their singing. He explained that he needed to start up the battery, saying, "when you go away, I'll shut it off." While the management had no official comment, they did say, "They have the right to demonstrate outside but they had better not touch any of our property or throw trash on the ground."

Raging Granny representative Ruth Robertson talked about the group's objections to the Hummer vehicle. She cited the high price of the car and the fact that it gets a low 10 miles per gallon. Customer complaints about the vehicle are also numerous, she said. She further explaiend that buying cars that hurt the environment is NOT patriotic. The Hummer emits 3 times more carbon dioxide than the average car. She went on to say that driving Hummers increases our dependence on foreign oil which is a contibuting factor in the war on Iraq.

Demonstrator Tian Harter said that every citizen should take more responsibility. "Our country has a lot of problems, but everyone must do their part. For example, if everyone would cut down on their use of cars there would be less pollution and less global warming. If everyone drove less it would be better for the whole world."

Ruth Robertson further stated that beyond Silicon Valley, there were 20 different hummer protest locations on Earth Day. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups joined in a national action at Hummer dealerships across the continent to encourage people to stop driving Humvees and make an effort to use public transportation.

Caption of the picture: Even though the dealer has started up the engine on this red Hummer, the Raging Grannies continue their protest.