How Your Parents Ruined Driving

A lot has changed in America in the past 30 years. We got the internet. You can't

30 years. We got the internet. You can't

joke about anything anymore because of cranel culture. And of course, America's

cranel culture. And of course, America's roads have become infested with glorified tanks. See, not so long ago,

glorified tanks. See, not so long ago, almost every car on the road was a car.

Auto manufacturers were mostly focused on trying to get good gas mileage, and cars like this were off-road vehicles for outdoors enthusiasts and men who wanted to feel like a big boy. Nowadays,

the majority of the vehicles on the road are SUVs, which might not have been a problem, except for they get worse gas mileage. They produce more pollution.

mileage. They produce more pollution.

They're heavier and do more damage to the roads and bridges they drive on. And

I guess this is relevant, they are murdering the absolute hell out of both pedestrians and people in smaller vehicles.

And it would be one thing if Americans just kept demanding bigger and bigger cars. It would still suck. It would just

cars. It would still suck. It would just kind of be our fault, you know. But the

reason everyone's mom is driving a monster truck, is mostly because car companies, specifically American car companies, make way more money selling an SUV than selling a car. And it's not

just because they can charge more for them. Due to a loophole in the 1970s,

them. Due to a loophole in the 1970s, SUVs don't have to hit the same standards as cars. Because SUVs are regulated as non-passenger work vehicles, like for farms and

construction sites, and it's such a crazy story, we made a whole episode about it. Hi, I'm Raleigh Williams, a

about it. Hi, I'm Raleigh Williams, a guy with a climate science and policy degree and whatever the opposite of a car fetish is. And this is a video about how all the cars in America became

tanks. Welcome to Climate Town.

tanks. Welcome to Climate Town.

All right, hearken yourselves back to the distant past of the 1970s. Pants

technology was at an all-time high and car ownership had exploded. Almost half

of all the cars in the entire world were in America. That's a stat you can be

in America. That's a stat you can be proud of. And all those cars ran on

proud of. And all those cars ran on good, lowcost gasoline, easily imported from a Middle Eastern oil cartel known as OPEC. But then in 1973, the US backed

as OPEC. But then in 1973, the US backed Israel in the Yam Kapoor war. And OPEC

decided they weren't going to give America any gasoline anymore, which led to a massive nationwide gasoline shortage that looked a little something like this.

>> THEY'RE ALL OUT OF GAS.

>> BUT I DON'T KNOW IF I'M going to make it.

>> Then they come out and tell us there was no gas. Three or four cars. NO, THEY DID

no gas. Three or four cars. NO, THEY DID NOT. water tonight. What are you doing

NOT. water tonight. What are you doing in line?

>> This is ridiculous. I can go on disability. I got to wear two split

disability. I got to wear two split prices.

>> It turns out America completely falls apart without gasoline, which was annoying. And it was also a national

annoying. And it was also a national security risk. If a foreign government

security risk. If a foreign government could just cut off our gasoline supply all William, then we wouldn't be able to pursue the American dream of doing whatever we wanted with no consequences.

And since cars were averaging about 13.5 m per gallon, Congress decided to use some good old-fashioned government regulation to force car manufacturers to

increase the average fuel economy of their vehicles. So in 1975, they passed

their vehicles. So in 1975, they passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which included a section known as the CAFE standards, which stands for corporate average fuel economy. These

standards required the average gas mileage for all the cars in a company's fleet to be 27.5 miles per gallon by 1985. So, while American auto

1985. So, while American auto manufacturers may not have enjoyed being forced to make better cars, American consumers were extremely on board with prioritizing fuel economy, here is a car

salesman on the brink of tears talking about the state of customers in a fuel constrained America.

>> What sort of things do people say to you when they come in to buy a car?

>> Gas mileage. That's the number one topic. How many miles to a gallon will

topic. How many miles to a gallon will this get? And that doesn't make any

this get? And that doesn't make any difference if they're buying the smallest pinnel that we sell or the Mazda. The other day, a lady came in

Mazda. The other day, a lady came in with her fur coat and her rings and her jewelry and her three big heavy friends and they want to see a Mazda station wagon, which is a small car. The three

of them couldn't get into the car at one time. They were stuffing them in the

time. They were stuffing them in the door and and they were just sitting scrunched up in there and they couldn't drive the car even. But this is what she wanted because she was concerned about the gas mileage. And that could have been the end of this video if it weren't

for a little thing called the light truck loophole. See, cars may have been

truck loophole. See, cars may have been most of the vehicles on the streets, but there were also trucks that farmers and workers would use to grow your food and carry your picket fence, haul your

construction equipment. That's a much

construction equipment. That's a much better example. And these were

better example. And these were considered non-passenger work vehicles because people weren't driving them to and from their marketing job. They were

being used for work. These guys had first been classified as a different kind of vehicle back when the EPA was trying to get all that pesky lead out of the air that was pickling our

grandparents' brains. Nationwide, 3

grandparents' brains. Nationwide, 3 million young children, one out of every six, have bloodled levels high enough to impair mental development.

>> They focus the regulations on passenger vehicles rather than work vehicles. And

the cafe standards use this same logic.

Ooh, SEE THAT'S A TRUCK. And the CAFE standards use this same logic to give light duty trucks a break on gas mileage. So now, in addition to being

mileage. So now, in addition to being allowed to pollute more and have worse safety standards, non-passenger work vehicles would only have to get 20.5 mp

gallon by 1987. So, of these two categories, which one do you think the SUV would fall into?

Well, uh, it's kind of a trick question because at the time SUVs didn't really exist, at least not by that name. They

were essentially off-road pickup trucks with a little hard hat on top. And since

they were for climbing over rocks and not hauling your kids to school, they were also classified as non-passenger work vehicles. And don't get me wrong,

work vehicles. And don't get me wrong, this was not some kind of poison pill that the auto industry snuck into the legislation at the last second so they could flood the streets with SUVs the

second Congress turned their back. See,

Detroit was dominated by the big three automakers, GM, Ford, and Chrysler. But

there was also a Ringo, a fourth auto company known as American Motors Corporation. And they made

Corporation. And they made >> Jeep for the person who wants to leave roads far behind. Tell trails to get lost. All you need is the Jeep. It's got

lost. All you need is the Jeep. It's got

guts. Rugged Jeep guts.

>> See, AMC needed to keep up with the big three. And they were worried that the

three. And they were worried that the R&D required to hit passenger vehicle standards might be enough to put them out of business. So, they lobbyed like hell to get the Jeep classified as a work truck. And that's not just me

work truck. And that's not just me guessing that. Here's an actual quote

guessing that. Here's an actual quote from the chairman of AMC at the time. We

made damn sure they were classified as trucks. We lobbied like hell. They

trucks. We lobbied like hell. They

lobbied like hell. Now, the EPA had a choice. They could force Jeep to comply

choice. They could force Jeep to comply and risk putting a bunch of hardworking American auto workers out of a job in a pretty critical swing state, or they could give a small car company a break.

I mean, how could this possibly come back to bite us a few decades down the road? So, the EPA caved and put Jeeps in

road? So, the EPA caved and put Jeeps in the light truck category. According to

Eric Stor, deputy assistant administrator of the EPA, we had to find a way to keep the Clean Air Act from being blamed for putting AMC out of business. So, we reached for the truck

business. So, we reached for the truck chassis definition. So, a line was

chassis definition. So, a line was drawn. Pickup trucks are work trucks.

drawn. Pickup trucks are work trucks.

Pickup trucks with a little hat on the back, also a work truck. And then

nothing happened for about a decade. I

mean, sure, there were some pre-SUVs kicking around, but they were a tiny portion of the vehicle market, and they were really designed for hunting or driving around in the woods. But all of

that was about to change.

Experience it for yourself. Get in. Only

Cherokee gives you a choice of two or four doors. Only Cherokee has room for

four doors. Only Cherokee has room for five.

>> The allnew Jeep Cherokee is here with seating for five. One word says Jeep.

>> That's right. It's the 1984 Jeep Cherokee. The first of its kind

Cherokee. The first of its kind nonpassenger work vehicle, passenger family vehicle, and auto riders at the time were completely confused. It's a

little hard to get your mind wrapped around the Cherokee's mission in life, but Jeep tries to help by calling it Sport Wagon. It's a station wagon with

Sport Wagon. It's a station wagon with extra functional overtones. An American

car in Oshkosh overalls, part car, part truck.

By the way, the writer of that article, a young Michael Jordan. Just when you think you know a guy, he's putting up 30 points a night on the court and then coming home to write insightful

automotive articles. Wow. Quadruple

automotive articles. Wow. Quadruple

threat. Almost out of nowhere, Jeep shocked the auto industry by selling like crazy. In 1980, SUVs were just 2%

like crazy. In 1980, SUVs were just 2% of the market. And by 1990, that number was 7%. and midsized SUVs like the Jeep

was 7%. and midsized SUVs like the Jeep Cherokee had grown by 30x. And on top of that, because the Jeep was regulated as a non-passenger work vehicle, you could

save a ton of money on assembly costs.

If you could save 30% off the cost by not meeting the safety standards, it could make a project a whole lot more attractive. Yikes. That's a real quote

attractive. Yikes. That's a real quote from an actual Jeep executive. And

ordinarily, they might not have been so candid. But that quote and honestly a

candid. But that quote and honestly a ton of other stuff from this video is from High and Mighty by Keith Bradshere.

Keith was the Detroit bureau chief for the New York Times in the '90s, which means he had incredible access to the US automakers. The assumption at the time

automakers. The assumption at the time was that if you're an auto writer, you're on the side of the auto industry.

If you're some kind of environmental writer flying in from New York City, you're going to get the company line.

But if you're in Detroit, you're on the side of the automakers, the car team.

and auto executives were more than willing to talk to the friendly press.

>> The chief financial officer for General Motors. When I think about that, I think

Motors. When I think about that, I think about how many zeros do you have to deal with. Uh, a huge industrial corporation.

with. Uh, a huge industrial corporation.

A lot of big numbers, huh?

>> That's right. But then Keith Bradshere published this book and my god, they must have been so pissed. It's

absolutely crammed full of great stuff.

It's a great read. Go read it. And now

back to the video. And as the highly profitable Jeep sales grew, the big three automakers were getting a little jealous. See, they had dominated the

jealous. See, they had dominated the American market back in the 1960s, but foreign car manufacturers were steadily eating their lunch by selling American drivers more fuelefficient vehicles. GM,

Ford, and Chrysler saw these big bulky SUVs as a great way to recoup their lost profits, and they released their own non-passenger work vehicle, passenger family vehicles. Well, not Chrysler.

family vehicles. Well, not Chrysler.

Chrysler just bought Jeep, but you know, you get the idea. And all of this was happening just in time for the richest generation in the history of America to enter their prime buying years. Ladies

and gentlemen, it's the Boomers.

>> All right, congratulations.

>> As the Boomers started having kids, the usual choice of minivan or station wagon just wasn't going to cut it for them. I

mean, sure, those cars got great safety and gas mileage and could fit a ton of passengers and cargo, but they're not cool. You know, boomers wanted to be

cool. You know, boomers wanted to be cool and tough and rugged. You know,

welcome to the '9s.

>> Welcome to the '90s. And welcome to a way to explore new horizons.

Introducing the new four-door Explorer from Ford. Explore more total room for

from Ford. Explore more total room for people and cargo than any competitor.

Have you driven a Ford lately?

>> Have you driven a Ford lately?

>> We have to cut that. Jesus Christ. Wow.

What an unconfident jingle they have. We

know our Fords used to suck. Okay, we

made bad cars and we're sorry, but lately we've been making way bigger cars. Check them out. And also the

cars. Check them out. And also the explorer part is to explore the inside of the car. They're not even pretending to market to these guys anymore. Now

it's all about this guy.

>> Yeah.

>> It's just my love machine and I wouldn't drive nothing but my baby.

>> It's just my love machine.

It's my love machine.

>> That is not the face of a guy who's going off-road in that Ford Explorer.

And I bet you think I don't like his dancing, but I love that dancing. He's trying stuff. He's going

dancing. He's trying stuff. He's going

for it. He might not be that good, but he's funny in this ad. And he's the most famous guy in his office after this comes out. Are you the most famous

comes out. Are you the most famous person in your office? I didn't

think so, so don't criticize this man's dance. And also, we don't have time to

dance. And also, we don't have time to get into it, but there's this lovely little Firestone Tire glamour shot here.

And Firestone Tires killed a whole ton of people. And like I said, we don't

of people. And like I said, we don't have time to get into it, but eventually they just drop this whole thing and they go all in on marketing work trucks to families. Okay, so maybe our 95 Chevy

families. Okay, so maybe our 95 Chevy Blazer hasn't been to the edge of a cliff or gone pounding through muddy terrain or blazed a trail through unexplored territory, but it does handle

two active kids quite nicely.

Off-roading's just half the story. Chevy

Blazer is a great family vehicle, >> and this family member wouldn't mind driving once in a while.

>> Who are we kidding? It's just a big ass family car with a completely pissed husband because he's not allowed to drive it. I I I've watched this a couple

drive it. I I I've watched this a couple times and I don't fully get this guy's deal, but I feel confident in saying, "Fuck this guy." Right. Anyway, between

1990 and 2000, car companies increased their SUV marketing budget by 9x. And in

the year 2000, they spent $1.5 billion marketing SUVs. That is so much money to get people to buy these massive big ass, huge ass family ass cars. Now, there are

about a billion of these ads out there, but I do have a favorite, and it's this one.

The new Chevy Blazer with the driver control system. A little security in an

control system. A little security in an insecure world.

This woman sees and possibly causes multiple life-threatening accidents.

Does not stop for any of them. Nearly

runs a pack of cyclists off the road.

Almost gets final destinations by a log truck. All so she could race home at top

truck. All so she could race home at top speed to CHECK THE MAIL. I'M NOT saying she's a sociopath, but I do think if you looked into her brain, there'd be a lot

of lead poisoning inside of it.

>> One out of every six have blood lead.

>> And I should just point this out, SUVs are a terrible car for this kind of reckless driving. SUVs in the '90s were

reckless driving. SUVs in the '90s were extremely prone to rollovers. So much so that they had to add a rollover test to the safety standards in the US because it wasn't something they were very

concerned about before the SUV came onto the scene. But through all these ads

the scene. But through all these ads about off-roading, freewheeling SUVs, driving through the mud, conquering the tops of peaks, and taking friends to a

fun gathering on a plateau. The reality

was not even close to that. Here's a

quote from a Ford marketing manager in the era where the Ford Explorer became one of the bestselling vehicles in the United States. SUVs are about image.

United States. SUVs are about image.

It's about who the customer is and who the customer wants to be. The only time those SUVs are going to be off-road is when they miss the driveway at 3:00 a.m.

In just 6 years, SUVs went from being 5% of the luxury vehicle market to 50% by 1996. It used to be BMWs and Mercedes

1996. It used to be BMWs and Mercedes and Porsches, but now rich Americans wanted massive four-wheel behemoths. And

the richest, most Americanist Americans wanted the biggest, assest cars ever. It

can scale an 18-in wall, plow its way up a 60% grade, weighed through 2 ft of water, muck, or mud, and plow through threeft snow drifts. It's not a car.

It's not a truck.

IT'S A HOVER CAME FROM A COMPANY CALLED AM General that split off from Jeep cuz they wanted to focus on military vehicles. Then they got a billion dollar

vehicles. Then they got a billion dollar contract from the US government to replace all those little girl Jeeps with actual Humvees. And when the SUV market

actual Humvees. And when the SUV market took off, they unleashed their weapons of war on the US suburbs. Apparently,

they rushed so hard to get the street legal Hummer out to millionaires that half the cars in this ad still have guns on top. And if you look at the back

on top. And if you look at the back seat, there's a dining room table in the middle cuz that's where the soldier is supposed to stand for the gun. The

Hummer H1 got less than 10 m to the gallon. And according to this Guardian

gallon. And according to this Guardian article, it was more like four in city traffic. Oh, also, uh, it can do 0 to 60

traffic. Oh, also, uh, it can do 0 to 60 in 20 seconds. 20. I know that doesn't feel like that long, but this is 20

seconds. Don't skip this part. Just

seconds. Don't skip this part. Just

earnestly imagine what it would be like to be flooring your H1 Hummer for 20 full seconds to get up to 5 m an hour under the highway limit.

But the Terminator loved it, the auto industry loved it, and within a few years, GM bought the rights to make as many different kinds of Hummers as their hearts desired. And according to GM

hearts desired. And according to GM marketing, Hummers tend to appeal to people who never performed military service but wished they had. Good lord,

another devastating burn on their own customers. They also felt that Hummers

customers. They also felt that Hummers would do well with rugged individualists and that rugged individualists were people who really sought out peer approval. My god, you can't come back

approval. My god, you can't come back from that. And things are about to get a

from that. And things are about to get a whole lot worse. But first, you know what the opposite of a Hummer is?

Subscribing to us on Patreon. Oh yeah,

baby. It's one of the coldest shoots in Climate Town history, but we're out here on location trying to give you the scoop about SUVs for absolutely free because we think it's an important story for people to know about. The better we

understand how we got into this mess, the better equipped we'll be to get out of it. And we just thought that's

of it. And we just thought that's important to not put behind a payw wall.

And how are we able to afford all this?

Because I'm fabulously wealthy. And the

reason we're able to afford this is because of our supporters on Patreon.

So, if that's you, thank you so much.

Seriously, you're the best. And if you'd like to be part of the engine that keeps Climate Town alive and independent and out on the streets, you could consider joining Patreon as well for something

like five bucks a month, and we will make it worth your while, my friend. We

give you exclusive behindthescenes clips, footage of petty arguments we have about reality TV, footage from our live show. And it goes rattlesnake,

live show. And it goes rattlesnake, COBRA, THE CELL PHONE GAME SNAKE, AND THAT'S IT. I CAN'T NAME ANY OTHER

THAT'S IT. I CAN'T NAME ANY OTHER SNAKES, BUT RATTLESNAKE IS NUMBER ONE.

AND EVEN access to the climate town landline. That is a real phone that sits

landline. That is a real phone that sits on my desk. You get the number, you can call it, and if I'm around, I will answer it. The conversation will go

answer it. The conversation will go whatever direction you choose. I I'm

normal. I'm being normal on the line, but people are calling it and trying to get weird, but I took $5,000 worth of improv classes. I will get weird. I'm

improv classes. I will get weird. I'm

not going to back down just cuz you called me, man. THE CALL WILL GO WHATEVER DIRECTION WE WANT. AND IF ANY of that sounds good to you and you want to support us, please check us out at

our Patreon page, link in the description. But just remember, I love

description. But just remember, I love you. And we're back. And if you're just

you. And we're back. And if you're just joining us now, go back to the beginning of the video. You're missing so much context. But if you don't have time for

context. But if you don't have time for that, then I guess uh a series of factors led to an incredible bonanza of SUV sales in America. In 1990, Americans

bought 700,000 SUVs. But by 2001, we were buying 3.5 million SUVs every single year. And by 2002, light trucks

single year. And by 2002, light trucks officially outsold passenger vehicles for the first time in America.

>> Check out the allne 2002 Ford Explorer.

It now offers seating for seven with available third row, a new independent rear suspension, a lower step-in height, and wider stance.

>> And just in case you forgot, all these are still getting classified as a work truck. People aren't using that

truck. People aren't using that available third row for taking kids to soccer practice. These are for work. All

soccer practice. These are for work. All

those passengers are just bluecollar contractors on their way to the job site. They don't need to get good gas

site. They don't need to get good gas mileage cuz they're for work. I mean,

they don't need rigorous safety standards. Poor, marginal, acceptable,

standards. Poor, marginal, acceptable, who cares? People aren't driving these

who cares? People aren't driving these around. Workers are. And car companies

around. Workers are. And car companies made damn sure the government remembered that. when the US added a luxury tax on

that. when the US added a luxury tax on vehicles over $30,000 IN 1990. NOT on

work trucks, baby. What about when SUVs became 50% of the luxury vehicle market?

THINK OF THE FARMERS. WE'RE GOING TO STARVE. OR WHAT ABOUT THE GAS guzzler

STARVE. OR WHAT ABOUT THE GAS guzzler tax that was supposed to do exactly what the name says. This is a work truck, Jackson. You can't put it on my SUV. But

Jackson. You can't put it on my SUV. But

then Clinton and Gore got elected and those guys set their sights on the cafe standards. Today I am honored to

standards. Today I am honored to announce the boldest steps in a generation to clean the air we breathe by improving the cars we drive. They

were long on leadership and short on shorts. And they did manage to get SUV

shorts. And they did manage to get SUV cafe standards changed from 20.5 mp gallon to 20.7 m PER GALLON. MY GOD, our boys got

fleeced. And the thing with the cafe

fleeced. And the thing with the cafe standards is it's an average across your fleet, which means car companies could try to like sneak in more fuel efficient cars to the light truck category to

raise the average. And that's how we got this >> what the >> Chrysler PT Cruiser. You've never seen anything like it.

>> And look, I know this is starting to sound like a conspiracy theory. I mean,

maybe Chrysler just wanted to make a car that looks like it used to play the cello. But then we found this quote from

cello. But then we found this quote from a Chrysler spokesperson. The primary

advantage is cafe. Trucks have

inherently larger, more powerful engines because they have to be more capable of hauling. Having the smaller, more

hauling. Having the smaller, more fuelefficient four-cylinder PT Cruiser classified as a truck helps the company meet its cafe requirement. Okay, hang

on. Great quote. The headline of this article says critics say, but then the person it's referring to is the Chrysler spokesperson. THAT'S NOT CRITICS.

spokesperson. THAT'S NOT CRITICS.

THEY'RE NOT WONDERING. That's the

official party line. Whatever. Anyway,

with the blast of SUVs, average gas mileage in the US actually went down in the '90s despite a bunch of new technology. And if you're wondering why

technology. And if you're wondering why the EPA didn't step in harder on SUVs, perhaps this quote from a top EPA official at the time will shed some light on things. We had to find a way to

keep the Clean Air Act from being blamed for I'm I'm sorry. That's that's the EPA from 1973 again. Sorry, the EPA in 1997 didn't reign in SUVs because we don't

want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs for the domestic industry.

Oh, awesome. So, it's uh kind of just the same. And by the way, I looked up

the same. And by the way, I looked up the goose that laid the golden eggs and it's one of Asop's fables. And I say one of because that dude is credited with

over 700 godamn fables. I mean, we all know the tortoise in the hair, the boy who cried wolf, but there are literal hundreds of Asop deep cuts. I'm talking

the cat as physician and the hens or the youngsters in the butcher shop. Oh, and

then the cat is back as physician in physician and sick man. You got the fox in the stork, the frogs desiring a king, the milkmaid in her pale, the old man in

death. That's a scary one. Or the erotic

death. That's a scary one. Or the erotic thriller the trumpeter taken captive.

There are hundreds of Asop fables. I

guess what I'm trying to say is please stop making Star Wars. Anyway, the goose is famous cuz golden eggs are really valuable and SUVs were that for the auto industry. Now, I could throw a ton of

industry. Now, I could throw a ton of numbers at you, but I think this single Ford factory really sums things up. This

factory was making massive SUVs like this one for Ford. And in 1998, this one building made $3.7 billion in profit.

That's more than all of the Walmarts combined in that same year. SUVs were so ridiculously profitable that this building made that $3.7 billion profit

on just 11 billion in sales. It took

Walmart 10 times that amount, $118 billion in sales, to make almost that much profit. But even though SUVs are

much profit. But even though SUVs are way more profitable than cars, and the auto industry was pivoting as fast as they could, people were still buying cars. Sure, they tailed off, but half of

cars. Sure, they tailed off, but half of all sales were still boring, less profitable cat as physician cars. But

what if instead of cars, those were SUVs? Introducing the Crossover. Do you

SUVs? Introducing the Crossover. Do you

love what an SUV, a minivan, and a luxury sedan each have to offer?

>> I've got a love from now. That's all I want.

>> The Buick rendevous.

Because while the massive SUVs that dominated the '90s were built on a pickup truck frame, crossovers start with a car design and then squeeze the SUV on top of that. Toyota took the

Corolla and made the RAV 4. Honda took

the Civic and made the CRV. They are

lighter and more fuel efficient than larger SUVs, but just like the PT Cruiser, they get lumped in with light duty trucks, so they get to dance around the stricter passenger car regulations.

and all the marketing money that drove rich boomers to buy Escalades and Lincoln Navigators set their kids up to dream of owning their own SUVs. But no generation since the boomers has had

anywhere near that level of wealth, so they'd have to mix in some of the fun-sized SUVs. There was a brief shining moment in 2009. Well, not shine, actually. It was the Great Recession. MY

actually. It was the Great Recession. MY

PEOPLE HAVE BEEN IN THIS GAME FOR 25 YEARS, AND THEY ARE LOSING THEIR JOBS AND THESE FIRMS ARE GOING TO GO OUT OF BUSINESS AND HE'S NUTS. THEY'RE NUTS.

THEY KNOW NOTHING.

>> KRAMER.

>> But America's auto manufacturers had dug themselves into a big gasg guzzling hole. And high gas prices were killing

hole. And high gas prices were killing their sales so hard the US auto industry is in dire straits. And its leaders are asking Congress for billions of dollars in loans.

>> And a young Barack Obama might have been able to strongarm them into making regular cars again.

>> Now, we cannot continue to excuse poor decisions. We cannot make the survival

decisions. We cannot make the survival of our auto industry dependent on an unending flow of taxpayer dollars.

>> And for a brief second, we did shift away from making SUVs. But then oil prices dropped again. Car manufacturers

said, "Fuck you." And we found ourselves in the golden age of the crossover SUV.

Bigger, higher, worse gas mileage than regular cars, but again, much more profitable for auto manufacturers.

According to Bob Lutz, a former auto executive, automakers expect the popularity of SUVs to more than offset declines in sedan sales. While it costs an extra thousand or so to produce a

compact SUV instead of a car built on the same basic frame, buyers are willing to pay $3 to $4,000 more for the SUV. In

2015, SUVs officially became the top selling vehicle class in the United States. And now 80% of all new car sales

States. And now 80% of all new car sales are non-passenger work vehicles, which is leaving regular actual cars looking like the girlfriend in the first 5

minutes of a '90s action movie.

>> DANIEL, LET ME FOLLOW YOU.

But you might be thinking, who cares? If

everyone's buying up SUVs, then that's what they're going to have. But the

thing is, SUVs and trucks cause a lot of problems for everyone, even if you don't own one. Sometimes, especially if you

own one. Sometimes, especially if you don't own one, America is truly number one in the developed world at dying in car crashes. Five times more people per

car crashes. Five times more people per capita die in car crashes in America than in the United Kingdom. And this

wasn't just like a crazy year on the road for America. We were kind of in the middle of the pack through the 1990s, but starting in the early 2000s, Americans and their heavyass non-passenger work vehicles have broken

away from the pack and are heading for the hills, taking off like a glorious airplane right into what's the y-axis again? Deaths per million people. Oh. In

again? Deaths per million people. Oh. In

a fun little ironic twist, one of the primary reasons Americans give for wanting to buy an SUV is because every other car on the road is an SUV already.

And if they don't have something big, they're going to find themselves under the wheel of somebody else's non-passenger work vehicle. And you know what? They might be right. There's a

what? They might be right. There's a

thing called crash compatibility that requires the bumper of a car to be no higher than 20 in off the ground.

Perfect for when you're crashing into another car. But since SUVs aren't cars

another car. But since SUVs aren't cars and are not required to have that 20-in bumper, when a car crashes into a not car, the lower car bumper acts more like

a ramp in a Dukes of Hazards stunt.

And it almost goes without saying, but pedestrians are also getting the molasses murdered out of them by bigger vehicles with higher bumpers and lower visibility. A pedestrian unlucky enough

visibility. A pedestrian unlucky enough to get hit by an SUV or truck is 41% more likely to die than if they had been hit by a car going the exact same speed.

SUVs have gotten so big that drivers can't even see in front of the vehicle.

You've heard of backing over something?

Well, the latest trend is fronting over.

And here's an incredible clip about a lady with her Chevy Tahoe.

>> I don't feel that I tend to have too many blind spots with it.

>> Haven Hutchkins drives a Chevy Tahoe.

>> We love the room. She agreed to a test to alert us the moment she sees a child.

So with the help of family and neighbors, we lined up one child.

>> No.

>> Then another >> then another.

>> I can't see any of them yet.

>> We added in a few more.

>> I can't see anyone. So

>> they got an entire pee-wee baseball team in front of this woman's car before she was able to see I'm going to guess the catcher. And the years of mclassifying

catcher. And the years of mclassifying these obvious passenger vehicles as work trucks has taken its toll on the environment.

Because of the gap in fuel efficiency, SUV drivers burn 20% more gasoline than cars. That's the equivalent of pouring a

cars. That's the equivalent of pouring a full beer out every time you buy a six-pack forever.

>> One out of every six. And because

America consumes roughly 376 million gallons of gasoline every single day, we are really pouring one out for the friends who couldn't make it here.

That's more childhood asthma-causing particulate matter in the air, more planetwarming gas in the atmosphere, more heart disease and health problems, all because of this.

Now, EVs don't have the same emissions or particular matter problems, but they've been sucked into the bigger and heavier arms race all the same. Of the

top 10 bestselling EVs in 2025, seven were SUVs. One is a truck. One is a this thing. That's a goose. That's not

thing. That's a goose. That's not

involved. All of which require a whole lot more rare earth metals for their bigger and heavier batteries and take a lot more time to stop when they're about to hit a pedestrian. And to make matters

just a little bit worse, car companies have figured out they can get people to buy more expensive vehicles than they're comfortable with by simply extending the loan out to 7 years. This lowers the

monthly payment and essentially tricks customers into buying more expensive vehicles than they can afford. And look,

I don't know a lot about financial crisis, but when I see headlines like late car payments are at a 15-year high and Americans are drowning in auto loan debt, it does not give me a lot of

confidence that we're going to suddenly be able to afford these sometimes $100,000 vehicles. But here we are. We

$100,000 vehicles. But here we are. We

are surrounded by SUVs and I'm out here telling you about it even though it's 8° in New York because these monstrous hunks of metal somehow make Chris

Farley's actual cousin, Ford CEO Jim Farley, $25 million a year. This is so stupid, but it's happening and it's getting worse. So, what are we going to

getting worse. So, what are we going to do about it? Well, honestly, this one's a bit of a doozy. I mean, there are already so many SUVs and trucks already driving around that even if every car

manufacturer completely stopped making them, it would still take decades to get them all off the road. So, I think one way we can backtrack is just to collectively recognize howing crazy it

is that our big car arms race has gotten this far. Like, are we okay with

this far. Like, are we okay with regulating the vast majority of the vehicles on the road as non-passenger work vehicles even though obviously they are not? Are we cool with a system where

are not? Are we cool with a system where drivers are forced to buy increasingly big cars to protect themselves from the other oversized cars on the road? Come

to think of it, should vehicle safety be measured by how protected the driver is?

Or should it maybe consider the occupants of the car that driver is running into? Should Americans be going

running into? Should Americans be going into more and more debt to afford expensive vehicles that are increasingly becoming the only option at the dealership? I mean, my god, Ford doesn't

dealership? I mean, my god, Ford doesn't even make a sedan anymore. I guess what I'm trying to say is that when we spend time thinking about the current automotive system we find ourselves in,

one conclusion becomes inescapably clear. This is not a system built for

clear. This is not a system built for people. This is a system built for

people. This is a system built for massive automanufacturers addicted to increasing profits at the expense of the American consumer. So take public

American consumer. So take public transportation and walk and ride your bike and carpool, but at the very least just start noticing the ways in which you've compromised your own life so that

we can prop up these non-passenger work vehicles and the corporations that manufacture them. Because if we don't

manufacture them. Because if we don't actively push in the other direction, car companies are going to continue to chip away at our environment, our wallets, and our lives so that

they can get their big wish, which is every man, woman, and child in America driving around in a single-use disposable tank with a dining room table

in the middle and a gun on top. Now, I

think SUVs are dumb and bad, but I am basically an SUV sympathizer compared to my buddy Jason over at Not Just Bikes.

You don't need me to tell you about him.

He's been making videos for years. I'm

sure you've seen him. But now he's making prestige television with his brand new series, Day Pass, where he's trying to speedrun a different city every episode by writing all the public

transit options that city has. And you

know what? It's a godamn delight. Jason

rides trains, boats, trams, even a finicular, which I had to look up what that was, and it turns out it's this.

Now, I love Day Pass because Jason is obviously having a really good time, and I love his traveling hat. But it also gives you a look at what cities could look like when they aren't being built

exclusively for drivers. And guess what, my friends? You can watch it right now

my friends? You can watch it right now exclusively on Nebula. It's an

independent ad-free streaming platform that's creatorowned and crammed full of excellent videos you can't find anywhere else. And I'll sweeten the deal. Every

else. And I'll sweeten the deal. Every

episode of Climate Town premieres early and adree over on Nebula before it premieres on YouTube. Nebula also has guest passes you can give out to friends and family or really whoever for a free

week of unlimited content. No payment

info required. So scan the QR code or visit nebula.tv/climattown TV/climattown

visit nebula.tv/climattown TV/climattown for 50% off. That's an insane amount of percent off. That's like $2.50 a month

percent off. That's like $2.50 a month for shows like Day Pass and all of this content. What else can you get for

content. What else can you get for $2.50? Really try to think about it.

$2.50? Really try to think about it.

Like a small bag of chips at Chipotle, a single padded envelope, or unlimited access to exclusive content from a

creatorowned media company.

Nebula.tv TV/climattown.

What a deal. And that's the end of the episode. You made it to the end. Thanks

episode. You made it to the end. Thanks

so much for watching. And thank you to Keith Bradshere for writing the book High and Mighty. It's an incredible read. Buy it, read it. You will not

read. Buy it, read it. You will not regret it. And if you do, please accept

regret it. And if you do, please accept this official Climate Town preemptive apology. Also, thank you to Debbie Seus

apology. Also, thank you to Debbie Seus and Matt Gervin for sharing their expertise with us. And the biggest thank you is reserved for our patrons. You

guys are the spine. You guys are the engine. Whatever a crucial part of a

engine. Whatever a crucial part of a machine is, that's you guys for us. We

simply couldn't make these videos without you. And even if we could, we

without you. And even if we could, we wouldn't out of respect for you. So, if

you're curious about maybe joining the Patreon page, just go over there, see what's on there. We got exclusive clips, behind the scenes, and of course, access

to the Climate Town landline. Check it

out. You won't regret it. Stay safe out there. Okay, Alpuccino.

there. Okay, Alpuccino.

>> Okay.

YEAH.

WOO!

MAN, they work as such a good team. The

little guy does the bikes. The big guy does the middle. That guy back up. Ah, I

love New York.

Did someone tell these ducks I have bread?

Ah, that's what I'm going to do to you, Hulk Hogan.

You want to take THIS BELT FROM ME, HULK HOGAN? You're going to HAVE TO COME DOWN

HOGAN? You're going to HAVE TO COME DOWN TO the ring on Tuesday for the big battle of the big superstars.

>> I have not tried marijuana. Uh, I have never used it at any time.

>> Did you hear that pop? Goodbye.