
SUVs conquered the world – at the expense of its climate - pseudolus
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/01/suv-conquered-america-climate-change-emissions
======
jstarfish
> You don’t need them to run to the store to buy a gallon of milk.

No, you don't, but you're not going to go buy and maintain a Civic for the
edge cases where the Explorer you're still paying down is overkill.
Walking/cycling is just not an option in most of America's non-urban centers--
the distances and conditions involved are what drove the invention of vehicles
in the first place.

~~~
ironmagma
It’s more the reverse. We built suburbs and ripped out streetcar lines because
automobiles were becoming more popular. It has also been suggested that GM
intentionally played a role in this transition.[1]

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_consp...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy?wprov=sfti1)

------
athms
Most SUVs today are glorified station wagons, built on car platforms. The most
popular SUV in America is the Ford Explorer and it hasn't been a truck for
almost a decade. How are these any different than minivans? Comparing this
type of vehicle to the truck based SUV in the 1990s is dumb. Cars (and light
trucks) are far more fuel efficient today than 25 years ago.

